First Record of Platyberyx rhyton (Teleostei: Perciformes: Caristiidae) Outside of Japanese Waters and Description of Juvenile Morphology

Abstract

While examining specimens identified as Paracaristius maderensis (Maul, 1949) at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Marine Vertebrate Collection, we encountered an individual of the genus Platyberyx Zugmayer, 1911. This specimen was collected in the Central Pacific Ocean, 900 km east of Wake Atoll during the Naga Expedition 1959–1961. We identified the specimen as Platyberyx rhyton Stevenson and Kenaley, 2013, and it represents the first record of this species outside of Japanese waters. This is a range extension of around 3400 km east for this species, as well as the first record of a juvenile individual and the fourth record of the species overall. We provide a morphological description and comparisons to the three previously known adult specimens.