Diagnosis. Ventral sucking disk present. Nostrils single. Pseudobranchs and pleural ribs absent. Two nasal, five infraorbital, seven preoperculo-mandibular pores. Additional unpaired coronal, paired postcoronal, and five pairs of post temporal pores present. Eyes small, reduced to about 2.5 % SL. Anus posterior to disk by a distance greater than disk length. Vertebrae 53–65. Caudal fin of 13–14 rays.
Distribution. Three species known from the Southern Hemisphere, one from New Zealand waters (Fig. 11).
Notoliparis kermadecensis (Nielsen 1964) Figs. 12, 13, 14
“Species of Liparidae ” Wolff 1961: 283.
Careproctus kermadecensis Nielsen 1964: 117, fig. 5
Notoliparis kermadecensis Andriashev 1975: 315; Andriashev 1978: 159; Andriashev 2003: 199, figs. 103, 104; Jamieson et al. 2009: 1041, fig. 4.
Holotype. ZMUC P 82217, female, 252 mm SL, ~ 275 mm TL, 35 ° 51 ʹ S, 178 ° 31 ʹ W, Kermadec Trench, 20 February 1952, HDMS Galathea, Stn. 658, 6660– 6670 m.
Material examined. None.
Diagnosis. (modified from Andriashev 2003). Vertebrae 65, dorsal fin rays 57, anal fin rays 53, caudal fin rays 14, pectoral fin rays 32–33. Head width about equal to its length. Posterior edge of disk directly below upper part of pectoral fin base. Pectoral fin short, its posterior end far anterior to anal fin origin. Head 19–21 %, preanal 45–48 % (37 in juvenile), disk 5–7 % SL (7.1 in juvenile).
Distribution. Known only from the Kermadec Trench at depths between 6660–7261 m.
Comments. A total of 12 specimens of N. kermadecensis have been collected. The initial collection (Nielsen 1964) included five specimens, ranging in length from approximately 50 to 258 mm SL. Recently, seven more specimens were collected by trapping in the Kermadec Trench. These latter specimens are in much better condition than the older ones, and allow collecting significant additional data on the morphology, physiology, and biology of N. kermadecensis. Their data will be published separately in a paper including a complete redescription of the species.
This species is not only the deepest known liparid species from the New Zealand EEZ, it is one of the deepest living fishes.