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INTRODUCTION
Long-nosed chimaeras representing the cartilaginous fish family Rhinochimaeridae inhabit in deep water from 200 m to more than 2000 m (Bigelow & Schroeder, 1953). Rhinochimaeridae comprises 3 genera (Harriotta, Neoharriotta and Rhinochimaera) with 8 species and they are discontinuously distributed worldwide with predominance in the Atlantic Ocean. The species Neoharriotta pinnata (Schnakenbeck, 1931) of the family Rhinochimaeridae were previously reported only from the Atlantic Ocean, eastern Atlantic: Cape Blanc, Mauritania to Walvis Bay, Namibia (Krefft, 1990), Arabian Sea (Manilo & Movchan, 1989); off south-west India (Silas et al., 1969; Silas & Selvaraj, 1980); and from the Gulf of Aden (Ali et al., 2009).
A single specimen of N. pinnata was recorded for the first time from the Bay of Bengal region of the Indian Ocean from Nagapattinam landing centre (10.76°N 79.84°E) Tamil Nadu, south-east coast of India on 26 January 2010. Based on interviews with a boat crew, it is confirmed that the present specimen was caught at a depth of 400-600 m during deep water otter trawl net operation towards the east of the Nagapattinam coast, from the Bay of Bengal. Based on the identification keys of Didier (1995) and Didier & Stehmann (1996) the specimen was confirmed as N. pinnata. The total length of the specimen is 1040 mm and weight, 1750g. The details of morphometric and meristic characters are given in Table 1. The specimen is preserved in the Museum of the CAS in Marine Biology, Faculty of Marine Sciences, Annamalai University, India (catalogue No. 646).
Table 1.
Morphometric and meristic characters of Neoharriotta pinnata compared with the male (juvenile) specimen obtained by Silas & Selvaraj (1980).
RESULTS
Rhinochimaridae Garman (1901)
Neoharriotta pinnata Schnakenbeck, 1931
Synonym: Harriotta pinnata Schnakenbeck, 1931,
Presence of elongated and pointed snout; weakly...