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

• Grant number: 13/13137-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: September 05, 2013
• End date: December 04, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Rodrigues de Carvalho
• Grantee: Diego Francisco Biston Vaz
• Supervisor: Ralf Britz
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Natural History Museum, London, England
• Associated to the scholarship: 12/07712-3 - Morphological and taxonomic review of the genus Centroscymnus Barboza du Bocage & Capello 1864 (Chondrichthyes:Squaliformes:Somniosidae), BP.MS

Abstract

The genus Centroscymnus Barboza du Bocage & Capello, 1864 (Chondrichthyes: Squaliformes: Somniosidae) comprises a group of deep-water sharks, distributed circumglobally in most oceans. This genus contains two species, Centroscymnus coelolepis and C. owstoni, both with global distribution; however, they were originally described from the Eastern Atlantic, off Portugal, and Western Pacific, Suruga bay, off Japan, respectively. The morphological definition of these species is highly inaccurate, due to brief original description, based on few specimens and few information about these species were recently published. 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 may present variation. Analogously, the set of characters that defines Centroscymnus is highly imprecise too. The masters project enrolled to the present proposal is revising the species C. coelolepis and C. owstoni taking into account its external and internal morphology, based on specimens of Western Atlantic, and comparing them with specimens from other areas and with nominal species of different genera of Somniosidae. To a complete morphological analysis, it is necessary a visiting to the Natural History Museum (NHM), London, institution where is housed several specimens of both species, collected from several localities of Atlantic Ocean and from some regions of Pacific Ocean; and it is the museum where is housed the type-specimens of several nominal species correlated to genus Centroscymnus. So, the actual proposal presents a soliciting of Bolsa de Estágio de pesquisa no Exterior (BEPE), in the Natural History Museum, London, with supervision of Prof. Dr. Ralf Britz, lead researcher of referred institution. This study will investigate external (morphometrics, coloration dermal denticles) and internal (lateral line sensory canals, skeleton, musculature) morphology in the specimens cataloged at the ichthyological collection of NHM. Additionally, the CT-Scan available at NHM will be used to obtain tridimensional images of internal structures of type specimens, enabling us to obtain anatomical information about these specimens, what will provide important morphological support to later taxonomical decisions in the end of this master project. (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)

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)

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)

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)