Vibilia caeca Bulycheva, 1955

Vibilia caeca Bulycheva, 1955: 1050; Vinogradov et al., 1996: 241 (key), 272‒274, fig. 111; Shih & Hendrycks, 2003: 255 (tab. 1), 292 (key), 285, figs. 14, 15; Zeidler, 2003: 11 (key), 63‒65, fig. 29; Lavaniegos & Hereu, 2009: 151 (appendix 1).

Material examined. 3F from three localities (Fig. 3). TALUD IV. St. 36 (25°51’59”N, 110°11’00”W), August 27, 2000, 1F, MN from surface to ca. 1300 m (TD, 2100 m) (ICML-EMU-12848). TALUD V. St. 29 (25°14’36”N, 109°24’15”W), December 17, 2000, 1F, MN from surface to 1290 m (TD, 2040 m) (ECO-CH-Z-10551). TALUD VII. St. 36 (25°42’37”N, 110°04’35”W), June 9, 2001, 1F, MN from surface to 1390 m (TD, 2400 m) (ICML-EMU- 12849).

Distribution. Northwestern Pacific Ocean, from the SW Bering Sea (Vinogradov et al. 1996) and ranging from the Gulf of Alaska (53°52’N) to off California (33°11’N) (Shih & Hendrycks 2003). In the eastern Pacific it ranges from off the west coast of the Baja California Peninsula (Lavaniegos & Hereu 2009) to the SE Gulf of California, Mexico (present study). It has also been recorded from the Tasman Sea, SE Pacific (Zeidler 2003) and the Indian Ocean (Vinogradov 1990).

Remarks. A geographically restricted species first recorded herein within the Gulf of California. Collected from 100 to 1300 m depth (Shih & Hendrycks 2003).