Fig. 6.
Halosaurus phalacrus, Vaillant [L. L.] 1888: 185, Pl. 15 (fig. 3), 16 (figs. 1-1c). Morocco, 1,103–2,190 m; Sudan, 1,250–1,435 m; Azores, 37°35'N, 29°26'W, 1,442–2,220 m. Lectotype: MNHN 1885-0382. McDowell 1973: 91 –92 (key), 105–114 (description); Filatova 1985: 27 –29 (description), 33–34 (key); Sulak 1986a: 593 –598 (description, key); Sulak 1986b: 196 –197 (description, key); Maul 1976: 20 –22 (description); Smith 2003 (key).
Material examined. MHNUSC 25014- 1, 190 mm TL, 7th August 2011, Galicia Bank; 42º41.771'N— 011º33.647'W; 1,536 m depth; MHNUSC 25012- 2, 330 mm TL, 6th August 2011, Galicia Bank; 42º41.771'N— 11º33.647'W; 1,477 m depth.
Description. Body shape eel-like, moderately compressed, elongated and attenuated to the caudal peduncle; top of snout and head scaleless, opercle scaleless; the preoral portion of the snout is short, contained 3.8 and 4.7 times in the snout length; first dorsal ray very short and vestigial; pelvic fins lie well in advance of dorsal origin; palatine tooth patches separate; pyloric caeca black and anal opening white surrounded by a dark field. The main morphometric and meristic characteristics are presented in Table 7.
Habitat and distribution. Benthopelagic between 500–2,300 m depth. Circumglobal, mainly at tropical and temperate latitudes. Eastern Atlantic, from the Gulf of Biscay to Guinea and off South Africa; western Atlantic from Greenland, New England, USA to Bahamas and off southern Brazil; eastern Pacific, in Hawaii and Chile (Froese & Sampang 2004; Yeh et al. 2006).