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A list is presented of 242 species of fishes taken in the Golfo de Nicoya, Golfo Dulce and on the Pacific continental shelf of Costa Rica. The specimens were collected using dredges and bottom trawls during December 1993 and February 1994. The Golfo Dulce revealed the lowest diversity with only 75 species represented; 118 species were collected in the Golfo de Nicoya and 129 species in offshore waters. It is presumed that low fish diversity in Golfo Dulce is due to the deep, unproductive waters in that embayment. The checklist includes presence-absence data for each locality. Se presenta una lista de 242 especies de peces del Golfo de Nicoya, el Golfo Dulce y la plataforma continental del Pacífico de Costa Rica. Los especímenes se extrajeron con dragas y redes de fondo en diciembre de 1993 y febrero de 1994. El Golfo Dulce tuvo la menor biodiversidad, con solo 75 especies; hubo 118 en el Golfo de Nicoya y 129 en la plataforma. La baja diversidad en Golfo Dulce podria deberse a sus aguas profundas y de poca productividad.

This manual is a companion volume to “Demersal and pelagic inshore fishes of the Pacific coast of lower Central America. An illustrated guide”. That volume treats fishes occurring in habitats on or close to soft substrata, but also includes those inshore pelagic fishes which often appear in fish and shrimp trawl catches, as well as captures made by gill nets, cast nets and other artisanal fishing methods. Este manual es un complemento de “Peces demersales y pelágicos costeros del Pacífico de Centro América Meridional. Una guía ilustrada”. Ese volumen incluye peces de hábitats en o cerca de substratos suaves, pero también incluye aquellos peces costeros pelágicos que con frecuencia salen en los arrastres para camarón, así como capturas con redes agalleras, anzuelos u otras métodos artesanales de pesca.

Cichlasoma balteatum and C. spilotum are placed in the synonymy of C. nicaraguense on the basis of a review of the literature and examination of fresh material from Lake Nicaragua and the Atlantic slope of Costa Rica. Observations on coloration and caudal fin scalation are included. Con base en la revisión bibliográfica y el examen de especímenes preservados procedentes del Lago de Nicaragua y del Atlántico de Costa Rica, se concluye que las denominaciones de Cichlasoma balteatum y C. spilotum son sinónimos de C. nicaragttense, cíclido bastante frecuente en las aguas de estas regiones. A la vez se excluye esta especie del género Copora con la explicación para indicar la posible base que el autor de este género tuvo al describir esa entidad. Se incluye suficientes datos sobre comparación de coloraciones de C. nicaraguense de los dos sexos, así como observaciones sobre la presencia de dos filas de escamas con poros en la aleta caudal.

Trawl samples of demersal fish populations within the Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica were conducted during February and July, 1979 and April, 1980 in an attempt to define basic abundance, diversity and distributional patterns. Seventeen day and three night samples produced 6,441 fishes of 107 species during the February cruise. Twenty day and two night samples produced 9,220 individuals of 131 species during the July cruise. Twenty day samples produced 14,151 individuals representing 125 species taken during the April cruise. A total of 214 species were collected during this study.The Gulf of Nicoya may be divided into three zones on the basis of the physical characteristics of the stations (water temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, depth and distance from the mouth of the Gulf). Few changes in the position of these zones occurred during the study period, indicating a relatively stableestuarine configuration from a biological perspective, under the influence of a wet and a dry season. No significant seasonal changes in the number, biomass, percent occurrence, diversity of partitioning by size class of fishes were observed.Two major types of fish distributional patterns were observed. Several species were ubiquitous and were found throughout the Gulf in varying abundances. Other species were restricted to either the upper or lower Gulf. Dominant groups in the upper Gulf include the sciaenids, sea catfishes (Ariidae) and flatfishes (Soleidae, Cynoglossidae and Syacium ovale). These fishes tend to inhabit the warmer, shallower, less saline waters of the upper Gulf. Flounders (Bothidae), gobies (Bollmannia spp.), morays and congers (Hildebrandia nitens, Priodonophus equatorialis and Muraenesox coniceps) and several other species dominated the deeper, cooler, more saline lower Gulf. Durante los meses de febrero y julio de 1979 y abril de 1980 se realizó muestreos de arrastre en el Golfo de Nicoya, Costa Rica con el objeto de definir los patrones básicos de abundancia, diversidad y distribución de los peces bentónicos. La jornada de febrero comprendió diecisiete muestreos diurnos y tres nocturnos y un total de 6441 individuos de 107 especies. En el mes de julio se efectuó veinte colectas diurnas y dos nocturnas dando un total de 9220 individuos de 131 especies. Finalmente, la jornada de abril comprendió veinte colectas diurnas con un total de 14.151 individuos de 125 especies. El total de especies colectadas en este estudio fue de 214.El Golfo de Nicoya puede dividirse en tres zonas con base en parámetros físicos considerados en cada sitio de recolección (temperatura del agua, oxígeno disuelto, salinidad, profundidad y distancia desde la boca del Golfo). Se determinó pocos cambios en la posición de estas zonas durante el lapso de este estudio, lo que indica una configuración estuarina relativamente estable desde el punto de vista biológico, bajo condiciones de estaciones seca y lluviosa. No se observó cambios significativos estacionales con respecto al número, biomasa, porcentaje de especies ni en la separación por grupos con base en la talla.Se observó dos tipos principales de patrones de distribución de los peces. Varias especies presentan una distribución muy amplia y éstas se encontraron en todas las estaciones. Otras especies presentaron una distribución restringida, ya sea a la parte superior o inferior del Golfo.En la parte superior los grupos dominantes son los sciánidos, bagres (Ariidae) y los lenguados (Soleidae, Cynoglossidae y Syacium ovale). Estos peces muestran preferencia por las aguas más tibias, someras y de menor salinidad de la parte superior del Golfo. Los lenguados (Bothidae), gobios (Bollmannia spp.), morenas y cóngridos (Hildebrandia nitens, Priodonophus equatorialis y Muraenesox coniceps) y varias otras especies dominan en aguas más frías y de mayor salinidad de la parte inferior del Golfo.

Se realizó un muestreo de ictioplancton huevos y larvas de peces, durante los afios 1987-1988 en aguas someras de la costa Pacífica norte de Costa Rica. Se recolectaron 68 muestras en 22 localidades a una profundidad promedio de 100 m. Se estableció un total de 54 familias: dominaron numéricamente Muctopbidae, Bremacerotidae, EngrauHdidae, Carangidae. Gonostomidae, Botbidae, Gobiidae y Scombridae. La familia Bregmacerotidae presenta una sola especie Bregmaceros bathymaster para Costa Rica. Dentro del grupo de los carángidos se definieron cuatro géneros y uná especie, Selene sp., Caranx sp., Trachinotus sp. y Naucrates ductor. Para la familia Botbidae se identificaron tres géneros y una especie Syacium sp . Bothus sp., y Citharichtys platophrys. Se realizó un muestreo de ictioplancton. huevos y larvas de peces, durante los afios 1987-1988 en aguas someras de la costa Pacífica norte de Costa Rica. Se recolectaron 68 muestras en 22 localidades a una profundidad promedio de 100 m. Se estableció un total de 54 familias: dominaron numéricamente Muctopbidae, Bremacerotidae, EngrauHdidae, Carangidae. Gonostomidae, Botbidae, Gobiidae y Scombridae. La familia Bregmacerotidae presenta una sola especie Bregmaceros bathymaster para Costa Rica. Dentro del grupo de los carángidos se definieron cuatro géneros y uná especie, Selene sp., Caranx sp., Trachinotus sp. y Naucrates ductor. Para la familia Botbidae se identificaron tres géneros y una especie Syacium sp . Bothus sp., y Citharichtys platophrys.

Hydrolagus colliei (Lay & Bennett 1839) Spotted Ratfish; Quimera manchada (Spanish) (Figure 6, Table 4) Material examined. 3 specimens. UCR 2909–04, 2 males, 1 female, 469–495 mm TL, 265–329 mm BDL; 44.95 Km, 253.73 ° T from Cabo Blanco, Puntarenas, Costa Rica (9º26'16.44" N, 85º29'56.04" W), 560–620 m, 24 November 2010, collected by J.M. Carvajal. Diagnosis. Snout short and bluntly rounded; oral and preopercular lateral line canals not sharing a short common branch from the infraorbital canal; anterior edge of dorsal-fin spine not serrated; anterior and posterior regions of second dorsal-fin considerably taller than middle region; pectoral fins when depressed not reaches beyond to origin of pelvic fins; anal fin absent; caudal-fin axis horizontal with the fin nearly symmetrical, epaxial and hypaxial lobes equal sized; brown or reddish brown coloration with small white spots on head and trunk. Morphometric measurements, expressed as percentage of body length (% BDL) or head length (% HDL), and comparative data are presented in Table 4. ......continued on the next page Distribution. Northeastern Pacific: west coast of North America from southwestern Alaska to Baja California, Mexico, including the Gulf of California (Baldwin 1961, Krupp & Bussing 1995, González-Acosta et al. 1999, Didier & Rosenberger 2002, Ebert 2003, Mecklenburg et al. 2002, Didier et al. 2012), and Costa Rica (this study), at depths between 0 and about 900 m (Didier et al. 2012). Remarks. These specimens represent a south range extension of about 3500 Km on known distribution, as the southernmost record of the spotted Ratfish was on Punta Prieta off the outer coast of the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico (26°59’N, 114°02’W) (González-Acosta et al. 1999, Ruiz-Campos et al. 2010)., Published as part of Angulo, Arturo, López, Myrna I., Bussing, William A. & Murase, Atsunobu, 2014, Records of chimaeroid fishes (Holocephali: Chimaeriformes) from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, with the description of a new species of Chimera (Chimaeridae) from the eastern Pacific Ocean, pp. 554-574 in Zootaxa 3861 (6) on pages 566-568, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3861.6.3, http://zenodo.org/record/5247997, {"references":["Baldwin, W. J. (1961) First records of three northern fishes from the upper Gulf of California. Copeia, 1961 (4), 475 - 476. http: // dx. doi. org / 10.2307 / 1439595","Krupp, F. & Bussing, W. A. (1995) Quimeras. In: Fischer, W., Krupp, F., Schneider, W., Sommer, C., Carpenter, K. E. & Neim, V. H. (Eds.), Guia para la Identificacion de Especies para los Fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. Vol. 2. Vertebrados - Parte 1. FAO, Rome, pp. 793 - 798.","Ebert, D. A. (2003) Sharks, Rays, and Chimaeras of California. University of California Press, Berkeley, California, 284 pp.","Didier, D. A., Kemper, J. M. & Ebert, D. A. (2012) Phylogeny and classification of extant Holocephalans. In: Carrier, J. C., Musick, J. A. & Heithaus, M. R. (Eds.), Biology of sharks and their relatives. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp. 97 - 124."]}

Key to eastern Pacific species of the order Chimaeriformes The following key is based on our research and data available in the literature (Didier & Nakaya 1999, Didier & Rosenberger 2002, Barnett et al. 2006, Nelson 2006, Quaranta et al. 2006, Didier & Meckley 2009a, b, James et al. 2009, González-Acosta et al. 2010, Bustamante et al. 2012, Didier et al. 2012). 1 Snout with elongate, flexible, hooklike process; lateral line canals closed; second dorsal fin not elongate; tail heterocercal (Ecuador to Argentina)............................................. Callorhinchus callorynchus (Linnaeus 1758) - Snout short and rounded or long and pointed, not hooklike; lateral line canals are open grooves; second dorsal fin elongate; tail diphycercal.......................................................................................... 2 2 Snout short and bluntly rounded; caudal-fin axis horizontal with the fin nearly symmetrical, epaxial and hypaxial lobes equal sized............................................................................................... 3 - Snout elongated and pointed; caudal-fin axis weakly raised with the fin asymmetrical, epaxial caudal-fin lobe narrower than hypaxial lobe........................................................................................ 8 3 Anal fin present (Costa Rica to Peru, probably more widespread in the southeastern Pacific).... Chimaera orientalis sp. nov. - Anal fin absent...................................................................................... 4 4 Anterior and posterior regions of second dorsal-fin considerably taller than middle region............................ 5 - Second dorsal-fin uniform in height throughout............................................................. 7 5 Anterior edge of dorsal-fin spine not serrated; uniform dark brown to reddish-brown across entire body with numerous white spots on the head and trunk (Gulf of Alaska to Costa Rica)................... Hydrolagus colliei (Lay & Bennett 1839) - Anterior edge of dorsal-fin spine serrated; uniform brown across entire body with or without a distinct white spot on the lateral side above the pectoral fins............................................................................. 6 6 Snout blunt; EYL more than 40% HDL; tail region short and stout, PCA less than 57% BDL; uniform brown across entire body with a distinct white spot on the lateral side above the pectoral fins (Galapagos Islands)................................................................................. Hydrolagus alphus Quaranta, Didier, Long & Ebert 2006 - Snout pointed at tip; EYL less than 40% HDL; tail region elongate and slender, PCA more than 58% BDL; uniform brown across entire body with no white markings (Mexico to Chile)................ Hydrolagus macrophthalmus de Buen 1959 7 EYL more than 10% BDL; two narrowly spaced columns of serrations on the posterolateral edges of the distal 66–75% of spine (in adults); uniform overall medium grey on dorsal and lateral parts extending to near the ventrum, and dorsum with many irregular circular and elongate white blotches (Galapagos Islands)................................................................................................. Hydrolagus mccoskeri Barnett, Didier, Long & Ebert 2006 - EYL less than 9% BDL; spine serrations very worn, posterior edge of spine serrated for last 6.5–13% of spine length (in adults); uniform dark brown to black across entire body with a lighter band over the snout (Southern California, U.S.A. to Chile)............................................. Hydrolagus melanophasma James, Ebert, Long & Didier 2009 8 Tooth-plates with ridges and knobs; eyes virtually above mouth; upper edge of caudal fin without denticles or tubercles (Southern California, U.S.A., to Peru)......................................... Harriotta raleighana Goode & Bean 1895 - Tooth-plates nearly smooth; eyes distinctly behind level of mouth; caudal tubercles present along the upper edge of caudal fin.................................................................................................... 9 9 Snout broad and paddle-shaped with fleshy tip; junction of supraorbital and infraorbital canals on ventral side of snout closer to the tip of the snout than to the nasal canal; ONC/TIO greater than 1.4, TIO/SWF less than 1.5, TIO/LNC less than 3.0; 25–47 dorsal caudal tubercles in mature specimens; even dark brown color over entire body (Costa Rica to Peru)............................................................. Rhinochimaera africana Compagno, Stehmann & Ebert 1990 - Snout narrow and conical shaped with the tip narrow and stiff; junction of supraorbital and infraorbital canals on ventral side of snout nearly equidistant between the tip of the snout and the nasal canal; ONC/TIO less than 1.4, TIO/SWF greater than 1.5, TIO/LNC greater than 3.0; 36–62 dorsal caudal tubercles in mature specimens; pale brownish-gray body color with fins darker (Peru).............................................................. Rhinochimaera pacifica (Mitsukuri 1895), Published as part of Angulo, Arturo, López, Myrna I., Bussing, William A. & Murase, Atsunobu, 2014, Records of chimaeroid fishes (Holocephali: Chimaeriformes) from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, with the description of a new species of Chimera (Chimaeridae) from the eastern Pacific Ocean, pp. 554-574 in Zootaxa 3861 (6) on page 571, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3861.6.3, http://zenodo.org/record/5247997, {"references":["Barnett, L. K., Didier, D. A., Long, D. J. & Ebert, D. A. (2006) Hydrolagus mccoskeri sp. nov., a new species of chimaeroid fish from the Galapagos Islands (Holocephali: Chimaeriformes: Chimaeridae). Zootaxa, 1328, 27 - 38.","Nelson, J. S. (2006) Fishes of the world. John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey, 601 pp.","Quaranta, K. L., Didier, D. A., Long, D. J. & Ebert, D. A. (2006) A new species of chimaeroid, Hydrolagus alphus sp. nov. (Chimaeriformes: Chimaeridae) from the Galapagos Islands. Zootaxa, 1377, 33 - 45.","Didier, D. A. & Meckley, T. (2009 a) Rhinochimaeridae. In: Nakaya, K., Yabe, M., Imamura, H., Romero, M. C. & Yoshida, M. (Eds.), Deep-sea fishes of Peru. Japan Deep Sea Trawlers Association, Tokyo, pp. 49 - 50.","James, K. C, Ebert, D. A., Long, D. J. & Didier, D. A. (2009) A new species of chimaera, Hydrolagus melanophasma sp. nov. (Chondrichthyes: Chimaeriformes: Chimaeridae), from the eastern North Pacific. Zootaxa, 2218, 59 - 68.","Gonzalez-Acosta, A. F., Castro-Aguirre, J. L, Didier, D. A., Velez-Marin, R. & Burnes-Romo, L. A. (2010) Occurrence of Hydrolagus macrophthalmus (Chondrichthyes: Holocephali: Chimaeridae) in the northeastern Pacific. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad, 81 (1), 197 - 201. http: // dx. doi. org / 10.7550 / rmb. 17717","Bustamante, C., Flores, H., Concha-Perez, Y., Vargas-Caro, C., Lamilla, J. & Bennett, M. (2012) First record of Hydrolagus melanophasma James, Ebert, Long & Didier, 2009 (Chondrichthyes, Chimaeriformes, Holocephali) from the southeastern Pacific Ocean. Latin American Journal of Aquatic Research, 40 (1), 236 - 242. http: // dx. doi. org / 10.3856 / vol 40 - issue 1 - fulltext- 23","Didier, D. A., Kemper, J. M. & Ebert, D. A. (2012) Phylogeny and classification of extant Holocephalans. In: Carrier, J. C., Musick, J. A. & Heithaus, M. R. (Eds.), Biology of sharks and their relatives. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp. 97 - 124.","Compagno, L. J. V., Stehmann, M. & Ebert, D. A. (1990) Rhinochimaera africana, a new longnose Chimaera from Southern Africa, with comments on the systematics and distribution of the genus Rhinochimaera Garman, 1901 (Chondrichthyes, Chimaeriformes, Rhinochimaeridae). African Journal of Marine Science, 9 (1), 201 - 222. http: // dx. doi. org / 10.2989 / 025776190784378646"]}

Harriotta raleighana Goode & Bean 1895 Pacific longnose Chimaera; Quimera narizona del Pacífico (Spanish) (Figure 1, Table 1) Material examined. 6 specimens. UCR 2909–02, 5 males, 1 female, 451–641 mm TL, 196–298 mm BDL; 44.95 Km, 253.73 ° T from Cabo Blanco, Puntarenas, Costa Rica (9º26'16.44" N, 85º29'56.04" W), 560–620 m, 24 November 2010, collected by J.M. Carvajal. Diagnosis. Snout elongated and pointed; tooth-plates with ridges and knobs; eyes relatively large (EYL 7.2–9.0% BDL) and virtually above mouth; dorsal-fin spine longer than height of first dorsal-fin (DSA 1.3–1.4 times in D1H); caudal-fin axis weakly raised with the fin asymmetrical, epaxial caudal-fin lobe narrower than hypaxial lobe; upper edge of caudal fin without denticles or tubercles. Additional morphometric measurements, expressed as percentage of body length (% BDL) or head length (% HDL), and comparative data are presented in Table 1. ......continued on the next page Distribution. This species has an apparent fragmented distribution in the three major oceans, and is likely cosmopolitan along continental margins in sub-polar oceans (Didier et al. 2012, Eschmeyer 2014). Confirmed records exist in the eastern Atlantic (Iceland, Faeroe Islands, Rockall Trough along Ireland to northern France, Canary Islands and off Cap Blanc, Mauritania, Namibia and South Africa), western Atlantic (Nova Scotia, Canada to Chesapeake Bay, U.S.A., and southern Brazil), north Pacific (off Japan), eastern Pacific (off California, U.S.A., Mexico (Gulf of California and Central coast), Costa Rica (this study), and Peru), and southwestern Pacific (off New Zealand and Australia) (Chirichigno 1974b, Garrick & Inada 1975, van der Heiden 1985, Compagno et al. 1989, Krupp & Bussing 1995, Castro-Aguirre et al. 2007, Didier & Meckley 2009 a, Didier et al. 2012, Eschmeyer 2014). Usually encountered at depths between 500 and 2000 m (Didier & Meckley 2009 a, Didier et al. 2012). Remarks. Although this species has a global distribution, in the eastern Pacific region there are no published records between Peru (Didier & Meckley 2009a) and Mexico (Castro-Aguirre et al. 2007). The discovery of these specimens in Costa Rican waters increases the knowledge of its marine ichthyofauna and provides evidence of a broader distributional pattern for this species in the eastern Pacific region., Published as part of Angulo, Arturo, López, Myrna I., Bussing, William A. & Murase, Atsunobu, 2014, Records of chimaeroid fishes (Holocephali: Chimaeriformes) from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, with the description of a new species of Chimera (Chimaeridae) from the eastern Pacific Ocean, pp. 554-574 in Zootaxa 3861 (6) on pages 556-557, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3861.6.3, http://zenodo.org/record/5247997, {"references":["Garrick, J. A. F. & Inada, T. (1975) Dimensions of long-nosed Chimaera Harriotta raleighana from New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 9 (2), 159 - 167. http: // dx. doi. org / 10.1080 / 00288330.1975.9515556","Didier, D. A., Kemper, J. M. & Ebert, D. A. (2012) Phylogeny and classification of extant Holocephalans. In: Carrier, J. C., Musick, J. A. & Heithaus, M. R. (Eds.), Biology of sharks and their relatives. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp. 97 - 124.","Chirichigno, N. (1974 b) Registro de dos especies de \" Peces Tucanes' \" (Familia: Rhinochimaeridae) en las aguas marinas del Peru. Instituto del Mar del Peru, Publicacion especial, Callao, Peru, 29 pp.","van der Heiden, A. (1985) Additional morphometric data on Harriotta raleighana (Holocephali: Rhinochimaeridae) and description of copulation marks. Revista de Biologia Tropical, 33 (2), 185 - 188.","Compagno, L. J. V., Ebert, D. A. & Smale, M. J. (1989) Guide to the sharks and rays of southern Africa. New Holland Ltd., London, 158 pp.","Krupp, F. & Bussing, W. A. (1995) Quimeras. In: Fischer, W., Krupp, F., Schneider, W., Sommer, C., Carpenter, K. E. & Neim, V. H. (Eds.), Guia para la Identificacion de Especies para los Fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. Vol. 2. Vertebrados - Parte 1. FAO, Rome, pp. 793 - 798.","Castro-Aguirre, J. L., Santana-Hernandez, H., Espino-Barr, E. & Jimenez-Quiroz, MdC. (2007) Primer registro de Harriotta raleighiana (Chondrichthyes: Holocephali: Rhinochimaeridae) en la costa del Pacifico central de Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad, 78 (2), 489 - 492. http: // dx. doi. org / 10.7550 / rmb. 5346","Didier, D. A. & Meckley, T. (2009 a) Rhinochimaeridae. In: Nakaya, K., Yabe, M., Imamura, H., Romero, M. C. & Yoshida, M. (Eds.), Deep-sea fishes of Peru. Japan Deep Sea Trawlers Association, Tokyo, pp. 49 - 50."]}

Hydrolagus macrophthalmus de Buen 1959 Big eye Chimaera (Figure 7, Table 5) Material examined. 4 specimens. UCR 2611–08, n=2, females, 435–581 mm TL, 223–343 mm BDL; in front of Playa Coyote, Península de Nicoya, Guanacaste, Costa Rica (9°40'50.02" N, 85°28'4.81" W), 650–700 m, 7 April 2000, collected by M. Vitola. UCR 2901–01, n=2, females, 543–639 mm TL, 334–349 mm BDL; 44.95 Km, 253.73 ° T from Cabo Blanco, Puntarenas, Costa Rica (9º26'16.44" N, 85º29'56.04" W), 560–620 m, 24 November 2010, collected by J.M. Carvajal. Diagnosis. Body slender; snout short and bluntly rounded; head relatively short (HDL 24.2–24.5% BDL); eyes relatively large (EYL 30.9–34.2% HDL); oral and preopercular lateral line canals sharing a short common branch from the infraorbital canal; pectoral fins relatively large (P1A 36.5–40.8% BDL), extending posterior to the insertion of pelvic fins; lateral line canal of the trunk without sinusoidal undulations; anterior and posterior regions of second dorsal fin considerably taller than middle region; anal fin absent; tail region elongate and slender (PCA 58.3–59.9% BDL); caudal-fin axis horizontal with the fin nearly symmetrical, epaxial and hypaxial lobes equal sized; uniform brown coloration across entire body, with no white markings; bluish fins. Additional morphometric measurements, expressed as percentage of body length (% BDL) or head length (% HDL), and comparative data are presented in Table 5. ......continued on the next page Distribution. Eastern Pacific: Central coast of Mexico (González-Acosta et al. 2010), Costa Rica (this study), Peru and Chile, at depths of 590–1160 m (Didier & Meckley 2009b). Remarks. Although this species has a postulated distribution extending from the central coast of Mexico (González-Acosta et al. 2010) to Chile (Didier & Meckley 2009b), there are no published records between Mexico and Peru (Didier & Meckley 2009b). The discovery of these specimens in Costa Rican waters increases the knowledge of its marine ichthyofauna and provides evidence of a broader distributional pattern for this species in the eastern Pacific region., Published as part of Angulo, Arturo, López, Myrna I., Bussing, William A. & Murase, Atsunobu, 2014, Records of chimaeroid fishes (Holocephali: Chimaeriformes) from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, with the description of a new species of Chimera (Chimaeridae) from the eastern Pacific Ocean, pp. 554-574 in Zootaxa 3861 (6) on pages 568-570, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3861.6.3, http://zenodo.org/record/5247997, {"references":["Gonzalez-Acosta, A. F., Castro-Aguirre, J. L, Didier, D. A., Velez-Marin, R. & Burnes-Romo, L. A. (2010) Occurrence of Hydrolagus macrophthalmus (Chondrichthyes: Holocephali: Chimaeridae) in the northeastern Pacific. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad, 81 (1), 197 - 201. http: // dx. doi. org / 10.7550 / rmb. 17717","Didier, D. A. & Meckley, T. (2009 b) Chimaeridae. In: Nakaya, K., Yabe, M., Imamura, H., Romero, M. C. & Yoshida, M. (Eds.), Deep-sea fishes of Peru. Japan Deep Sea Trawlers Association, Tokyo, pp. 51 - 53."]}

Rhinochimaera africana Compagno, Stehmann & Ebert 1990 Paddlenose Chimaera (Figure 2, Table 2) Material examined. 1 specimen. UCR 2612-01, male, 818 mm TL, 402 mm BDL; Isla del Caño, Puntarenas, Costa Rica (8°43'20.60" N, 84°5'50.46" W), 430–650 m, 11 April 2000. Diagnosis. Body elongate, with a elongate, broad and paddle-shaped pointed snout extending anterior to head (SNL 47.7% HDL), tapering to a slender tail; junction of supraorbital and infraorbital canals on ventral side of snout closer to the tip of the snout than to the nasal canal; ONC/TIO greater than 1.4 (ONC/TIO= 1.64); TIO/SWF less than 1.5 (TIO/SWF= 1.47); TIO/LNC less than 3.0 (TIO/LNC= 2.75); tooth-plates nearly smooth; eyes relatively small (EYL 6.4% BDL) and distinctly behind level of mouth; first and second dorsal fins separated by a relatively long interdorsal space (IDS 23.6% BDL) and not connected by a web of skin; caudal-fin axis weakly raised with the fin asymmetrical, epaxial caudal-fin lobe narrower than hypaxial lobe; 25 dorsal caudal tubercles; caudal filament vestigial; uniform dark brown coloration across entire body, except the oronasal region which is abruptly paler than the body. Additional morphometric measurements, expressed as percentage of body length (% BDL) or head length (% HDL), and comparative data are presented in Table 2. ......continued on the next page Distribution. Originally described from southern Africa from the south eastern Atlantic to south western Indian Ocean and in the Mozambique Channel at depths of 549–1450 m (Compagno et al. 1990, Didier & Nakaya 1999), this species is now also found in the western north Pacific in Japanese waters from off Hokkaido and northern Honshu to the east China Sea, including waters of Taiwan (Didier & Nakaya 1999), and in the eastern Pacific in Costa Rican (this study) and Peruvian waters (Didier & Meckley 2009a). Remarks. The Costa Rican specimen share with R. africana ONC /TIO greater than 1.4, TIO/SWF less than 1.5, and TIO/LNC less than 3.0; but share with R. pacifica ONC /EYL less than 3.5 (ONC/EYL= 2.10), and SWF/ EYL less than 1.8 (SWF/EYL= 0.87). In addition, eye size (EYL 6.4% BDL) and snout width (SWF 5.6% BDL and SWB 5.5% BDL) are consistent with R. pacifica, but color, interdorsal space (IDS 23.6% BDL) and dorsal caudal tubercles count (25) are more consistent with R. africana. Didier & Meckley (2009a) report similar proportions, counts and coloration pattern for Peruvian specimens (5 in total), and mentions that these specimens may represent a new species different from both R. africana and R. pacifica. In this regard, a more carefully morphological comparative study, as well as molecular information, may be necessary to clarify this situation. In any case, the specimen herein reported represent a north range extension of at least 1500 Km on the known distribution of the genus in eastern Pacific waters, as the northernmost record was, as informed above, in Peruvian waters (Didier & Meckley 2009a; no coordinates are provided)., Published as part of Angulo, Arturo, López, Myrna I., Bussing, William A. & Murase, Atsunobu, 2014, Records of chimaeroid fishes (Holocephali: Chimaeriformes) from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, with the description of a new species of Chimera (Chimaeridae) from the eastern Pacific Ocean, pp. 554-574 in Zootaxa 3861 (6) on pages 558-560, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3861.6.3, http://zenodo.org/record/5247997, {"references":["Compagno, L. J. V., Stehmann, M. & Ebert, D. A. (1990) Rhinochimaera africana, a new longnose Chimaera from Southern Africa, with comments on the systematics and distribution of the genus Rhinochimaera Garman, 1901 (Chondrichthyes, Chimaeriformes, Rhinochimaeridae). African Journal of Marine Science, 9 (1), 201 - 222. http: // dx. doi. org / 10.2989 / 025776190784378646","Didier, D. A. & Meckley, T. (2009 a) Rhinochimaeridae. In: Nakaya, K., Yabe, M., Imamura, H., Romero, M. C. & Yoshida, M. (Eds.), Deep-sea fishes of Peru. Japan Deep Sea Trawlers Association, Tokyo, pp. 49 - 50."]}

Angulo, Arturo, López, Myrna I., Bussing, William A., Murase, Atsunobu (2014): Records of chimaeroid fishes (Holocephali: Chimaeriformes) from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, with the description of a new species of Chimera (Chimaeridae) from the eastern Pacific Ocean. Zootaxa 3861 (6): 554-574, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3861.6.3