Redescription of Coelorinchus tokiensis (Steindachner and Döderlein 1887) (Actinopterygii: Gadiformes: Macrouridae), with comments on its synonymy

The taxonomic status of two grenadiers, Coelorinchus tokiensis (Steindachner and Döderlein 1887 ) and Coelorinchus longicephalus Okamura 1982 , is revised based on the examination of their types and 42 additional specimens from Japan. Our examinations confirmed the two nominal species to be synonymous and C. longicephalus is herein regarded as a junior synonym of C. tokiensis . Coelorinchus tokiensis is redescribed and compared with similar congeners. The species belongs to the Coelorinchus tokiensis group (herein redefined) and differs from all other congeners in having the following combination of features: ca. six dark saddles on trunk and tail; light organ short, its length shorter than half orbit diameter; underside of head completely naked except for oval scaly patches on lower surfaces of preopercle; snout long (41–46 % of head length; 70–85 % of postrostral length), its dorsal profile almost straight in lateral view; tip of snout bluntly pointed, armed with three modified tubercles; lateral nasal ridge incompletely supported by nasal bone; premaxillary teeth in long tapered band, with outer series prominently enlarged, posterior end of tooth band almost reaching lateral corner of mouth; body scales covered with short, reclined, blade-like spinules in widely divergent, saw-toothed rows; lips usually pale; oral cavity blackish; gular and branchiostegal membranes dusky.