Gorgonocephalus chilensis ( Philippi, 1858 )

Gorgonocephalus chilensis ( Philippi, 1858) View in CoL

Fig. 5d – n View FIGURE 5

Astrophyton chilense Philippi, 1858: 268 View in CoL .

Gorgonocephalus chilensis View in CoL . — Lyman, 1882: 265. — Döderlein, 1927: 30 – 31. — Mortensen, 1936: 240 – 241. — Mortensen, 1952: 11 – 12. — Bernasconi & d’Agostino, 1977: 68 – 70, pl. 1(1 – 2). — Manso, 2010: 3, fig. 1a – c. — Olbers et al. 2019: 68 – 70, fig. 46 – 47.

STUDY MATERIAL. — JC066 : stn 4-2, Coral seamount, 41° 20.708´S, 42° 55.292´E to 41° 20.99´S, 42° 55.12´E, 1300 m, 12/11/2011: 1 ( NHMUK 2025.30 About NHMUK ) ( DNA code= JC066-114 ); 1 ( NHMUK 2025.29 About NHMUK ) GoogleMaps .

COMPARATIVE MATERIAL EXAMINED. Gorgonocephalus chilensis ( Philippi, 1858) : PROTEKER 2/ CH 06, Baie de l’Oiseau, 48° 40.759´S, 69° 7.42´E to 48° 40.792´S, 69° 7.361´E, 93 – 105 m, 27/11/2013, MNHN IE.2013.16276 ( DNA code=TOH90-IE.2013.16276). Talud Continental 1/33, Mar del Plata Submarine Canyon, 37° 58.698´S, 55° 11.899´W, 308 m, 17/8/2012, CNP-INV ( DNA code=L33L). TAN0803/53, Seamount 5 Eltanin, Macquarie Ridge. New Zealand EEZ, 51° 2.82´S, 162° 1.13´E to 51° 3.15´S, 162° 1.48´E, 398 – 489 m, 5/4/2008, NIWA 40048 ( DNA code= NIWA 40048).

COMPARATIVE MATERIAL NOT EXAMINED. Gorgonocephalus chilensis ( Philippi, 1858) : AV17-18/ H116, Tristan da Cunha EEZ, Yakhont Sea Mount WEST, 39° 18.9´S, 8° 1.92´W, 327 m, 4/1/2018 GoogleMaps , BAS ( DNA code= BAS008 View Materials ). Shenhalyongshi /SY013, Zhongsha Island complex seamount, 13° 58.68´N, 114° 52.09´E, 1550 m, 25/9/2020, identified by Nethupul et al. 2022a as Gorgonocephalus chilensis novaezelandiae, CAS GoogleMaps IDSSE-EEB-SW0007 ( DNA code= MZ198761 View Materials ) .

Distribution. S America ( 6 – 1398 m), Kerguelen ( 60 – 943 m), Antarctic ( 40 – 1615 m), Tristan da Cunha ( 310 – 335 m), Coral Seamount ( 1300 m).

Remarks. The Coral Seamount specimens (40 and 55 mm dd) have tall tubercles on the disc, especially along the raised section over the radial shields, the dorsal arm surface is granular but with few tubercles, there are 3, rarely 4, arm spines, and girdle hooklets start after the 2nd arm branching. The DNA sequence of NHMUK 2025.30 is very similar to other G. chilensis specimens across the Southern Ocean, from South America to the Balleny seamounts. But it does not occur around the continent of Antarctica. The New Zealand-South China Sea specimens form a separate COI clade distinct from those of the Southern Ocean and are currently recognised as G. chilensis novaezelandiae Mortensen, 1924 (see Nethupul et al. 2022a).