Morphological and taxonomic review of the genus Centroscymnus Barboza du Bocage & Capello 1864 (Chondrichthyes:Squaliformes:Somniosidae)

• Grant number: 12/07712-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: November 01, 2012
• End date: December 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Rodrigues de Carvalho
• Grantee: Diego Francisco Biston Vaz
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 13/13137-4 - Morphological and taxonomic review of genus Centroscymnus Barboza du Bocage & Capello 1864 (Chondrichthyes: Squaliformes: Somniosidae), BE.EP.MS

Abstract

The genus Centroscymnus Barboza du Bocage & Capello, 1864 (Chondrichthyes: Squaliformes: Somniosidae) comprises a group of deepwater benthic sharks, occuring circumglobally in most oceans. This genus contains only two species, Centroscymnus coelolepis and C. owstonii, both reported in the Western Atlantic Ocean; however, they were originally described in Eastern Atlantic and Western Pacific, respectivelly. The morphological definition of these species are highly innacurate, due to brief original descriptions, based on few specimens and unverified intraspecific variation. In association with the loss of many type-specimens and the difficulty to obtain biological material for study, anteriorly proposed hypothesis about how many species are valid for this genus were based on unreliable characters, many of which presente variation. Similary, the set of characters that define the genus Centroscymnus are highly imprecise too, mainly because it was based on dermal denticles characteristics, which presentes high ontogenetic variability, and based on size and shape of the teeth, which presents intraspecific variation. Therefore, the species C. coelolepis and C. owstonii will be revised taking into account its external (morphometric proportions, dermal denticles and variation) and internal (skeleton, musculature and sensory system) morphology, based on specimens from Western Atlantic, and comparing them with specimens from other areas and with nominal species of different genera of Somniosidae. This study will therefore verify if morphological patterns are restricted geographically, clarifying the taxonomy of the different species of this genera, as well as provide morphological subsidies to better define Centroscymnus in the family Somniosidae. (AU)

Scientific publications

(7)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DA SILVA, JOAO PAULO C. B.; VAZ, DIEGO F. B.; DE CARVALHO, MARCELO R.. Phylogenetic inferences on the systematics of squaliform sharks based on elasmobranch scapular morphology (Chondrichthyes: Elasmobranchii). ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, v. 182, n. 3, p. 614-630, MAR 2018. (13/13137-4, 12/02349-8, 12/07712-3, 12/05391-5, 12/09877-0, 12/22692-9)

VAZ, DIEGO F. B.; DE CARVALHO, MARCELO R.. New Species of Squatina (Squatiniformes: Squatinidae) from Brazil, with Comments on the Taxonomy of Angel Sharks from the Central and Northwestern Atlantic. Copeia, v. 106, n. 1, p. 144-160, MAR 2018. (13/13137-4, 12/07712-3, 11/09918-5)

B. VAZ, DIEGO F.. Scymnodon plunketi (Waite, 1910): a junior synonym of Scymnodon macracanthus (Regan, 1906) (Somniosidae: Elasmobranchii). Journal of Fish Biology, v. 99, n. 2, p. 472-494, AUG 2021. (12/07712-3, 13/13137-4)

WEIGMANN, SIMON; VAZ, DIEGO F. B.; WHITE, WILLIAM T.; DE CARVALHO, MARCELO R.; THIEL, RALF. Distribution and comments on the morphology of Centroscymnus owstonii Garman, 1906 (Squaliformes: Somniosidae), with focus on its occurrence in the Indian Ocean. MARINE BIODIVERSITY, v. 46, n. 3, p. 641-653, SEP 2016. (13/13137-4, 13/05292-0, 12/07712-3, 12/05391-5, 12/05152-0, 12/09877-0)

DA SILVA, JOAO PAULO C. B.; VAZ, DIEGO F. B.; DE CARVALHO, MARCELO R.. Systematic Implications of the Anterior Pectoral Basals in Squaliform Sharks (Chondrichthyes: Elasmobranchii). Copeia, v. 103, n. 4, p. 874-885, DEC 2015. (13/13137-4, 12/02349-8, 12/07712-3, 12/05391-5, 12/09877-0, 12/22692-9)

WHITE, WILLIAM T.; VAZ, DIEGO F. B.; HO, HSUAN-CHING; EBERT, DAVID A.; DE CARVALHO, MARCELO R.; CORRIGAN, SHANNON; ROCHEL, ELISABETH; DE CARVALHO, MURILO; TANAKA, SHO; NAYLOR, GAVIN J. P.. Redescription of Scymnodon ichiharai Yano and Tanaka 1984 (Squaliformes: Somniosidae) from the western North Pacific, with comments on the definition of somniosid genera. ICHTHYOLOGICAL RESEARCH, v. 62, n. 2, p. 213-229, JAN 2015. (13/13137-4, 13/05292-0, 12/07712-3, 12/05391-5, 12/05152-0, 12/09877-0)

DA SILVA, JOAO PAULO C. B.; VAZ, DIEGO F. B.. Morphology and phylogenetic significance of the pelvic articular region in elasmobranchs (Chondrichthyes). CLADISTICS, v. N/A, p. 43-pg., 2023-03-01. (12/22692-9, 12/07712-3, 13/13137-4)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

VAZ, Diego Francisco Biston. Morphological and taxonomic revision of genus Centroscymnus, with comments on the generic arrangement within the family Somniosidae (Chondrichthyes: Squaliformes). 2015. Master's Dissertation - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Biociências (IBIOC/SB) São Paulo.