Deep sea ichthyofauna from Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Egypt Update and new records Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research (2016) 42, 479–489 HO ST E D BY National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries[.]
Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research (2016) 42, 479–489 H O S T E D BY National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research http://ees.elsevier.com/ejar www.sciencedirect.com FULL LENGTH ARTICLE Deep-sea ichthyofauna from Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Egypt: Update and new records Mahmoud M.S Farrag Marine Science & Fishes branch, Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University (Assiut Branch), 71524 Assiut, Egypt Received 29 February 2016; revised 21 December 2016; accepted 21 December 2016 Available online 13 January 2017 KEYWORDS New records; Deep-sea ichthyofauna; Mediterranean Sea; Egypt Abstract This work sheds light on deep sea resources that update the list of deep sea ichthyoids fauna with new records from the Egyptian coast, Mediterranean Sea Fish samples were collected from April to November 2015 at depths of 350–750 m using deep red shrimp bottom trawlers The presented fauna were constituted mainly of deep red shrimp (Aristeomorpha folicea and Aristeus antennatus) as target species followed by by-catch and discards which were represented by 36 fish species; Of them, 21 species were recorded previously The rest of the species, were new ichthyofauna identified in fifteen species including cartilaginous species (Centrophorus uyato, Etmopterus spinax, Hydrolagus mirabilis and Chimaera monstrosa), while the other 11 species were bony fishes (Chauliodus sloani, Diaphus metopoclampus, Sudis hyaline, Microstoma microstoma, Chlorophthalmus agassizi, Avocettina infans, Argyropelecus hemigymnus, Notacanthus bonaparte, Lampanyctus crocodilus, Centrolophus niger and Nettastoma melanurum) Centrophorus uyato was reported for the first time in the Levant Basin The present findings added new species to the Egyptian ichthyofauna and raised the total known deep water fauna to 38 species, enhancing knowledge about such species requires continuous monitoring and studies on deep sea resources Ó 2016 Hosting by Elsevier B.V on behalf of National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) Introduction The ecosystems of deep sea waters are the target of fish industries over the world This has resulted in the decrease in fish communities particularly on the continental shelves due to over fishing (Merrett and Haedrich, 1997) In the Mediterranean Sea, the exploration knowledge of the deep-sea fauna was mainly provided by the expeditions of Hirondelle and Princesse Alice (1888–1922); their ichthyologic data are reported in Zugmayer (1911) and Roule (1919) The Danish E-mail address: m_mahrousfarrag@yahoo.com Peer review under responsibility of National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries oceanographic cruises of the Thor (1908) and Dana (1928– 29) also extended investigation from the Atlantic to the whole Mediterranean, even catching deep-sea fish at depths greater than 1,000 m (Taning, 1918) All these cruises increased the knowledge of fish taxonomy and biodiversity (Ryland, 2000) The deep demersal fisheries in western and central parts of the Mediterranean are exploited by trawl fishing that mainly target red shrimp and is carried out in the Spanish and Italian Mediterranean waters down to 800–1000 m of depth; hence, the knowledge comes from scientific research (Sarda and Cartes, 1994; D’onghia et al., 1998; Ungaro et al., 1999) At the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, particularly the Egyptian coast, most fishing activities did not operate at a depth greater than 250 m In addition to that, other demersal http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2016.12.005 1687-4285 Ó 2016 Hosting by Elsevier B.V on behalf of National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) 480 fisheries’ surveys along the western and eastern Egyptian Mediterranean waters were carried out by ‘‘R/V salsabil” during 2008–2010 These studies, which were administrated by the National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries (NIOF) of Egypt, not explore deeper water Therefore, a lot of deep water ichthyofauna remains unknown Recently, the first work in the Egyptian Mediterranean waters that conducted deep water at depth greater than 400 m made it possible to catch deep water red shrimp and other ichthyofauna as by-catch (Ibrahim et al., 2011) However, knowledge about deep sea ecosystems is still limited The main objective of this paper is to update the knowledge of the deep sea ichthyoids fauna in Egyptian Mediterranean waters through trawling survey targeting deep red shrimp at a depth greater than 400 m M.M.S Farrag Results The present study has shown species diversity of deep seawater in the Mediterranean Sea, Egypt, mainly constituted of two deep red shrimp (Aristeomorpha folicea and Aristeus antennatus) as target species followed by by-catch and discards which were represented by 36 fish species; they were dominated by Merluccius merluccius Of them, 21 species were identified and recorded previously (Table 1) The rest of the species, which were composed of fifteen fish species, were recorded for the first time They included cartilaginous species (Centrophorus uyato, Etmopterus spinax, Hydrolagus mirabilis and Chimaera monstrosa) The other 11 species, on the other hand, were bony fish (Chauliodus sloani, Diaphus metopoclampus, Materials and methods The deep-sea ichthyofauna were collected from the deep-sea cruises of the commercial fishing operations in the Mediterranean Sea, Egypt during the spring of 2015 off Al-Arish (5 hauls) and the autumn 2015 off Alexandria (25 hauls) (Fig 1) The fishing operations were constructed using Italian bottom trawlers at depths ranging from 350 to 800 m targeting deep Red Shrimp (Family: Aristeidae), where the fishes are considered by catch and discard The available ichthyofauna was collected and preserved in formalin 10% (for small specimens); then identified using Whitehead et al (1984–1986) and Fish base (2010) keys Their biometric data were recorded and the following abbreviations were used: TL is total length, SL is standard length, D1 is first dorsal fin, D2 is second dorsal fin, AN is anal fin, P is Pectoral fin and V is pelvic fin Following that, the new fish species were described in detail Table Deepwater fish species from Mediterranean Sea, Egypt collected during this study (Recorded previously) Family Scientific Name Common Name F Dasyatidae (I) Sharks and Rays Dasyatis pastinaca (Linnaeus, 1758) Dipterus oxyrinchus (Linnaeus, 1758) Raja asterias (Delaroche, 1809) Rostroraja alba (Lacepe`de, 1803) Torpedo tokionis (Tanaka, 1908) Echinorhinus brucus (Bonnaterre, 1788) Hexanchus griseus (Bonnaterre, 1788) Galeus melastomus (Rafinesque, 1810) (II) Bony Fishes Arnoglossus thori (Kyle, 1913) Conger conger (Linnaeus, 1758) Nezumia aequalis (Guănther, 1878) Common stingray Long nosed skate Starry ray F Rajidae F Rajidae F Rajidae F Torpedinidae F Echinorhinidae F Hexanchidae F Scyliorhinidae F Bothidae F Congridae F Macrouridae F Merlucciidae F Myctophidae F Ophichthidae F Phycidae F Scophthalmidae F Sebastidae F Trachichthyidae F Trichiuridae Figure Map showing the study area in the Egyptian Mediterranean water F Ommastrephidae F Ommastrephidae Merluccius merluccius (Linnaeus, 1758) Ceratoscopelus maderensis (Lowe, 1839) Ophisurus serpens (Linnaeus, 1758) Phycis blennoides (Bruănnich, 1768) Lepidorhombus boscii (Risso, 1810) Helicolenus dactylopterus dactylopterus (Delaroche, 1809) Hoplostethus mediterraneus mediterraneus (Cuvier, 1829) Lepidopus caudatus (Euphrasen, 1788) (III) Cephalopods Illex coindetii (Verany, 1839) Todaropsis eblanae (Ball, 1841) Bottle nosed skate Trapezoid torpedo Bramble shark Blunt nose six gill shark Black mouth cat shark Thor’s scald fish European conger Common Atlantic grenadier European hake Lantern fish Serpent eel Greater fork beard Four spotted megrim Black belly rosefish Mediterranean slime head Silver scabbard fish na na Deep-sea ichthyofauna 481 Sudis hyaline, Microstoma microstoma, Aulopus filamentosus, Avocettina infans, Argyropelecus hemigymnus, Notacanthus bonaparte, Lampanyctus crocodilus, Centrolophus niger and Nettastoma melanurum) as shown in Table The description of each species is as follows: Centrophorus uyato (Rafinesque, 1810) It was previously classified as Squalus uyato Rafinesque, 1810 (Fishbase, 2010) It is a small shark with a long, narrow snout and an extended inner corner of pectoral fins which are moderately narrow pointed It has two dorsal fins, with one spine on each; the first dorsal fin is higher than the second one Anadipose fin is absent Dermal denticles are close-set but not overlap They are without stalks, but are thorn-like, with dorsal rigs converging toward the posterior tip It is dark grayish brown in color and is paler ventrally The fins are darker than the upper body with a whitish or transparent tip (Fig 2A) Etmopterus spinax (Linnaeus, 1758) It was previously a member of the Squalidae Family (Whitehead et al., 1986), but now it has become a member of Family: Etmopteridae (Fishbase, 2010) Its head is somewhat long with a long snout and a roundtrip, with a narrow portion in front of the eyes The nostrils are midway from the snout tip to the eyes The pre-oral clefts and labial folds are short on the mouth The upper teeth are of a tri-cusped form and the medial cusp is much larger The lower teeth encompass a strongly oblique (almost lateral) cusp that cuts almost the entire horizontal surface Spiracles are a little above and behind the eyes Gill slits are almost vertical and their openings are similar in size to spiracles The 1st gill slit is the longest while the 5th is the shortest The second dorsal fin sits over the pelvic fin bases The position of the pectoral is almost above the 5th gill slit An absence of annals fin is recorded The caudal fin with poorly defined sub-terminal notch is on the upper lobe, while the lower lobe is poorly differentiated Dermal denticles and median spine are obvious Photospheres are present ventrally It is of a brown color on top, with a pale spot between the eyes and a dark stripe along the lateral line Black dominates the lower part with a distinctive dark pattern on the ventral surface A pale spot between the eyes can be seen The bases of the dorsal, pectoral and pelvic fins are dark with the tips of dorsal and ventral lobes of the caudal fin being black (Fig 2B) Hydrolagus mirabilis (Collett, 1904) The body is a long whip-like filament at the end of the caudal fin with a short snout The first dorsal fin is short triangular and high, with a strong spine that nearly joins its whole length at the front The second dorsal fin is long and continues to the position of the upper caudal fin Not more than one-third the height of the first, it is concave in the middle The pectoral fins reach beyond the position of the pelvic fins The anal fin continues to the caudal fin; the latter has narrower upper and lower lobes in comparison with the hind part of the second dorsal finite skin is smooth, except for the denticles on male organs It is of a dark brown color with dark dorsal fins and whitish caudal filament (Fig 2C) Chimaera monstrosa (Linnaeus, 1758) This species is very similar to Hydrolagus mirabilis in its characteristics, but C monstrosa can be distinguished by its anal fin being distinctly separated from lancet shaped caudal fin The second dorsal fin is long with no marked concavity in the middle part It is of a greenish-silvery color on the back and flanks Brown spots are scattered longitudinally; fins are grayish with a black margin on the dorsal, anal and caudal fins (Fig 2D) Table Deepwater fish species from Mediterranean Sea, Egypt collected during this study (New records) (N: number of specimens, TL: Total length (cm), SD: Standard deviation Family Species Common name Depth (m) No TL ± SD L range (TLcm) (F: Centrophoridae) (F: Etmopteridae) (F: Chimaeridae) (F: Chimaeridae) (F: Stomiidae) (F: Myctophidae) (F: Paralepididae) (F:Microstomatidae) (F:Chlorophthalmidae) (F: Nemichthyidae) (F: Sternoptychidae) (F: Notacanthidae) (F: Myctophidae) (F: Centrolophidae) (F: Nettastomatidae) Centrophorus uyato (Rafinesque, 1810) Etmopterus spinax (Linnaeus, 1758) Hydrolagus mirabilis (Collett, 1904) Chimaera monstrosa (Linnaeus, 1758) Chauliodus sloani (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) Diaphus metopoclampus (Cocco, 1829) Sudis hyalina (Rafinesque, 1810) Microstoma microstoma (Risso, 1810) Chlorophthalmus agassizi (Bonaparte, 1840) Avocettina infans (Guănther, 1878) Argyropelecus hemigymnus (Cocco, 1829) Notacanthus bonaparte (Risso, 1840) Lampanyctus crocodilus (Risso, 1810) Centrolophus niger (Gmelin, 1789) Nettastoma melanurum (Rafinesque, 1810) Little gulper shark Velvet belly Large-eyed rabbitfish Rabbitfish Sloane’s viperfish Spothead lantern fish Longfin barracudina Slender argentine Shortnose greeneye Avocet snipe eel Half-naked hatchet fish Shortfin spiny eel Jewel lanternfish Rudderfish, Blackfin sorcerer 350–700 450–700 400–700 400–700 400-700 350–700 350–700 400–500 400–500 700–800 400–500 500–600 600–700 300–400 300–400 10 10 10 15 20 15 20 25 5 5 66.75 + 16.93 33.5 + -5.48 79.3 + 5.9 98.5 + 8.1 20.4 ± 2.5 7.3 ± 0.75 38.3 + 3.36 17.2 + 1.63 17.3 ± 1.6 62.7 ± 9.4 3.6 ± 0.4 31.4 ± 3.8 19.8 ± 3.3 41–90 22–45 70–90 90–120 18-25 6–8 35–45 15–20 15.8–19 50–70 3.2–4.4 28.2–35 16–21.8 45.4 34–58 46.2 ± 7.8 482 M.M.S Farrag Figure A: C uyato, B: E spinax, C: H mirabilis, D: C monstrosa, E: C sloani, F: D metopoclampus, G: S hyaline, H: M microstoma, I: C agassizi, J: A infans, K: A hemigymnus, L: N bonaparte, M: L crocodilus, N: C niger and O: N melanurum Deep-sea ichthyofauna Chauliodus sloani (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) Its body is slender with a large mouth that extends far past the eyes Two ventrolateral rows of photospheres are present on the body (Fig 2E) The lower jaw is longer than the upper one; the upper is armed with four fangs on each side The dorsal fin extends forward and is close to the head with a prolonged first ray A dorsal adipose fin is present near the tail while the anal fin is close to the tail The length from the snout to the dorsal fin positions 17–28% (usually 21–24%) from SL The dorsal, anal, pectoral and ventral fin rays are 5–6, 10–13, 13 and 7, respectively The species is of a silver-blue black color Diaphus metopoclampus (Cocco, 1829) The body and head are compressed with a Sub-terminal mouth and large eyes A small adipose dorsal fin is present near the tail A ventro-nuclei (Vn) somewhat extends along the ventral margin of orbit to reach behind the center of the pupil No dorsal or anal spines are present The dorsal, anal and pectoral rays are (15, 14–16 and 10–11), respectively It is of a dark brown to black color (Fig 2F) Sudis hyalina Rafinesque, 1810 Its body is moderately elongated with a diameter of about 8–9 times its The head is strongly times more compressed than the SL The snout is about times the eye width and more than half the head length The tip of the lower jaw is distinctly curved upward, with large teeth fixed and armed with serrated edges Gill rakers are tooth–like The presence of a small dorsal fin behind the midpoint of the body is recorded A small adipose dorsal fin lies near the tail The pectoral fin is long, about as long as the head and it closely reaches the pelvic fin base The pelvic fin is slightly in front of the dorsal fin position, while the anal fin is at the far back The dorsal, anal, pectoral and ventral rays are 12–16, 21–24, 13–15and 9, correspondingly Body color is silver pink (Fig 2G) Microstoma microstoma (Risso, 1810) This species was previously assigned to the Argentinidae Family (Whitehead et al., 1986), but now it has become member of the Microstomatidae Family (Fishbase, 2010).Its body is elongated with a diameter o fat least times its length It has a small mouth and large eyes, twice as big as its snout The dorsal fin is located well behind the midpoint of the body An adipose dorsal fin is not present The pectoral fins are high up on the flank, just below the lateral line The pelvic fins exist slightly before the position of the dorsal fin The anal fin is short and comes slightly behind the dorsal fin base It is larger and more adherent than the other fins; it also extends to the caudal fin No dorsal or anal spines exist The dorsal and anal rays are 11 and 7–9, respectively It is silver in color (Fig 2H) 483 Its horizontal orbit diameter exceeds its snout’s length; the latter is broad and spatulate It encompasses a narrow interorbital space It’s lower jaw projects beyond its upper one and ends in a bony knob Teeth in the jaws are very small, conical and depressible Pelvic fins are located slightly behind the dorsal fin’s position Adipose fin is opposite to the anal fin Caudal fin is forked The measurements were found to be: dorsal fin-rays 10–12, anal finrays 7–9, pelvic fin rays 8–9 and pectoral fin rays 15–17 Its coloris yellowish to brown with darker blotches; eyes are somewhat greenish (Fig 2I) Avocettina infans (Guănther, 1878) The body is very elongated with large eyes and completely lateral line It lacks the preopercle The dorsal and anal fins are united with the caudal fin The jaws are extremely long but the lower jaw is shorter than the upper The frontals are partly united in some specimens The pectorals are small The anus is a short distance behind the pectoral fin No dorsal or anal spines are present, but it has a linearly reduced caudal The dorsal and anal fin rays are 295–310 and 265–275, respectively Body color is dusky brown; the jaws, pectoral fins and lower abdomen are paler (2J) Argyropelecus hemigymnus Cocoa, 1829 The body is laterally deep compressed with a tubular eye and a vertical mouth, it discovered by deciduous scales The upper pre-opercula spine and lower pre-opercula spine are long, but the upper one extends beyond the posterior margin of the pre-parcel A single posteriorly directed post-abdominal spine with serrate edges bearing small dorso-posterior spine and a well-defined abdominal keel are present The dorsal fin rays are (8), followed by a dorsal adipose fin The dorsal blade is long, derived from supraneurals The exposed parts of the two posteriors refused together with hooks forming barbs The pectoral fin rays are (10–11) and the pelvic fin rays are (6) The anal fin has two distinct groups of fin rays (6+5) separated by the central AC1 photosphere It is of a dark black color with silver flank (2k) Notacanthus bonaparte Risso, 1840 The body is slender and elongated with an inferior mouth, produced snout and an inconspicuous lateral line The posterior end of the upper jaw projects beyond the corner of the mouth as a flesh converted spine The platine and dentary teeth are uniserial The gill membrane is confluent ventrally The first dorsal fin spine is placed behind the pelvic fin base The pelvic fins are united The dorsal fin spines are (5–7), while no dorsal fin rays are present The anal fin spines are (12–14) plus 110– 130 soft rays The pectoral rays count (10–12) Its color ranges from gray to pink, but the edge of gill cover and mouth are darker (2L) Lampanyctus crocodilus (Risso, 1810) Chlorophthalmus agassizi Bonaparte, 1840 Its body is somewhat compressed with a robust and depressed head with large elliptical eyes, that are directed dorsolaterally The specimens have a compressed head and body, neadly head depth with a sub-terminal mouth and large eyes A small adipose dorsal fin near the tail can be seen No dorsal or anal 484 spines are found There are no patches of luminous tissue at the bases of median and paired fins Luminous tissue (other than photospheres) is restricted to supra- and infra-caudal glands and sometimes to the base of the adipose fin (Four VO Dorsal fin rays (13–14), anal rays (16–18), pectoral rays (13–15); gill rakers 5+1+11, total 16–18 AO 6(7)+7–9, total 13–16.(2 M) Centrolophus niger (Gmelin, 1789) The body is elongated with a maximum depth of usually 30% SL Body has small scales, small head with visible skin pores and a large mouth with no teeth on palate The snout is slightly longer than the eye diameter, the caudal fin is slightly truncate, and the pectoral fin has a dark terminal edge The position of the dorsal fin is usually well behind the insertion point of the pectoral fins A single dorsal fin is found with dorsal spines and soft rays (5) and (37–41) respectively The anal spines are (3) while the anal soft rays are (20–24) in turn The pectoral fin rays are (20–21) Its color is dark brown to black; the median and pelvic fins are darker than the body Nettastoma melanurum Rafinesque, 1810 The body is very elongated and cylindrical on the interior; it is compressed on the posterior The anus opening is located before the midpoint of body The head is long and the anterior nostril is tubular at the base of the prominent snout tip, while the posterior nostril is an oval hole at the margin of the upper eye The gill openings are creosotic and lateral with no platopterygoid teeth Dorsal, anal and caudal fins are confluent The dorsal fin has a start point over the gill opening The lateral line contains 43–45 parental pores, 7–9 of which are before the gill openings and supratemporal pores Its color is pale whitish-brown ventrally with a black margin at the posterior part of the dorsal and anal fins (2O) Discussion The present study is considered an updated work on the exploration of the deep sea resources at a depth greater than 400 m; it is employed to report new ichthyofauna in Egypt The resulting fauna were identified into 38 species; two species of red shrimp were considered as the main target, while the other 36 species were considered by-catch and discards The two deep red shrimp species and twenty one species presented in Table were recorded prevesoiuly and agreed with those reported by Ibrahim et al (2011) The new ichthyofauna presented here (Table 2), were discussed to be confirmed Centrophorus uyato has the same characteristics of that studied by Whitehead et al (1986), Compagno et al (1989) (http:// www.fishbase.org/summary/Centrophorus-uyato) and White et al (2008) It is distributed in different locations (Western Central Atlantic, south of Mozambique, Gulf of Mexico, Eastern Atlantic, the Western Mediterranean, form Gibraltar to Senegal, Northern Namibia, the Indian Ocean, Western Australia, and Western Pacific Australia) (Last and Stevens, 1994) Recently, it was recorded in the Sea of Marmara, Turkey (Bilecenoglu et al., 2014) Etmopterus spinax coincides with the description of Reif (1985), Whitehead et al (1986), Kabasakal and Unsal (1999) M.M.S Farrag It showed a wide distribution in Eastern Atlantic, Western Mediterranean to Morocco, South Africa (Compagno, 1984) and the Adriatic Sea by Jardas (1984) Its presence in the seas of Turkey has been recorded by Aksiray (1987), Kaya (1993) at a depth of 730 m; from the central Skagerrak (NE North Sea) by Bergstad et al (2001),from Tyrrhenian Sea (Western Mediterranean) by Sartor et al (2003), from Eastern Mediterranean, Greek Ionian Sea (Politou et al., 2003),from Balearic Sea and Ionian areas by Sion et al (2004) and from northern coast of Israel (Goren and Galil, 2007) Recently, it has been reported off the southern coasts of Sicily, Central Mediterranean Sea (Ragonese et al., 2013) E spinax exists at depths from 70 to 2000 m, but mostly between 200 and 500 m (Mceachran and Branstter, 1984; Bauchot, 1987) Because of its deep-sea dwelling habit, E spinax has been considered a rare bathypelagic elasmobranch and this may be the reason why it hadn’t been discovered before in the Egyptian water, Mediterranean Sea This finding was in accordance to Galil and Goren (1994) from Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean and with Priede and Bagley (2000) who recorded E spinax, together with G melastomus, between 2300 and 3850 m in the Rhodes Basin and Jones et al (2003) who captured this shark in the Cretan Sea using baited traps as deep as 2230 m The third and fourth species were Hydrolagus mirabilis and Chimaera monstrosa The two species are included in Chimaeridae which contains about 38 species belonging to the two genera Hydrolagus and Chimaera For H mirabilis; it is distributed in the Eastern and Western Atlantic (Uyeno et al., 1983) It has been reported in the Faeroe Islands, France, Ireland, Spain (Stehmann et al., 1984) and Namibia, Senegal and West Sahara (Krefft, 1990) In the Mediterranean Sea, the species has been reported off the Southern Coasts of Sicily, Central Mediterranean Sea (Ragonese et al., 2013), then reported from Syrian waters, Lattakia Coast (eastern Mediterranean) by Hassan (2013) Its features agreed with the description of Whitehead et al (1986), Krefft (1990), Didier (2002)and Hassan (2013) It is also bathydemersal and lives in deep marine water as found to being accordance with Krefft (1990) and Hassan (2013) C monstrosa is a common species in different sites of the Mediterranean basin, except for the Egyptian waters (Didier, 1998) It was reported from Italian coasts (Matarrese et al., 1996), from deep shelf trough of Central Skagerrak (NE North Sea) by Bergstad et al (2001), from the Northern Tyrrhenian Sea (Sartor et al., 2003), from Syrian waters (Ali, 2003) and from Balearic Sea and the eastern Ionian area by Sion et al (2004) It has been reported off the southern coasts of Sicily, Central Mediterranean Sea (Ragonese et al., 2013), then it expanded to Levantine basin, Aegean Sea coast and Sea of Marmara (Bilecenoglu et al., 2014) and from the Cascais Canyon Head by Gomes-Pereira et al (2015).Its characteristics and features were in agreement with the description of Whiteead et al (1986), Krefft (1990) and Møller et al (2010) C monstrosa is the principle species among the discarded species (Defra, 2007) This finding concurred with the presence of the current species that had been included in the discarded and by catch of deep water trawlers The description of Chauliodus sloani was approved by those given by Whitehead et al (1986) and Dalyan and Eryilmaz (2008) It also agreed with what had been found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans and the Western Mediterranean (Gibbs, 1989) It had expanded from Greek territorial waters Deep-sea ichthyofauna of the Aegean Sea (Papaconstantinou, 1988) to different areas like Turkish waters (Golani, 1996), Northern Tyrrhenian Sea (Sartor et al., 2003), Eastern Mediterranean, Greek Ionian Sea (Politou et al., 2003) and from video records southwest of Cyprus at 2900 m (Galil, 2004).It even sprung from Greece and Italian coasts (D’Onghia et al., 2003); the Balertic Sea and Eastern and Western Ionian Sea (D’Onghia et al., 2004) Also, the same species was reported from Levantine Basin off the northern coast of Israel by Goren and Galil (2007) Recently, it was reported from deep-waters of south Sardinia (centralwestern Mediterranean) (Follesa et al., 2011) and from the Catalan Sea at depths ranging from 423 to 1175 m using bottom trawls (Papiol et al., 2012) It seems that the species was distributed widely in Mediterranean Sea, particularly from deeper waters in accordance with the present results Information about Diaphus metopoclampus was found to be in agreement with that of Whitehead et al (1986) and Hulley (1990) It was found in Western Atlantic, Eastern Atlantic, Western Mediterranean, and South Africa, Western Indian Ocean, Western Pacific, New South Wales, Australia (Paxton et al., 1989); New Zealand (Paulin et al., 1989) and recently from Mediterranean Sea, Greece (D’Onghia et al., 2003) Concerning the species of Sudis hyalina, it was in complete agreement with those reported by Post (1984) and Moore et al (2003) It was first reported by Tortonese (1970) in the Mediterranean Sea, and then identified in the Museum of Natural History of Beirut (Lebanon) by Mouneimne (1977) It was later extended to Levant Basin (Golani, 1996) off the Turkish coast (Bilecenoglu et al., 2002), Italian marine waters (Psomadakis et al., 2006), Eastern Aegean Sea (Corsini_Foka, 2009) and the deep waters of the CentralWestern Mediterranean, off south Sardinia (Follesa et al., 2011) and the Eastern Ionian Sea (Mytilineou et al., 2013) It had also been reported off Liguria Sea, Western Mediterranean as discard of traditional long lines (Garibaldi, 2015) These records indicate a wide distribution all over the Mediterranean Sea; however, until now this species has never been recorded in Egypt Regarding the species of Microstoma microstoma, it showed more similarity with that of Cohen (1986), it is probably distributed in tropical and subtropical seas, Eastern Atlantic, and Southern Ireland It was also scattered across the Western Mediterranean, Madeira Islands, the Western Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico (Rass, 1971), Western Pacific, Australia (Paxton et al., 1989), New Zealand (Paulin et al., 1989), Aegean Sea coast (Bilecenoglu et al., 2014) and recently at Eastern Mediterranean Sea, off Rass Albassit harbor, Syrian Coast (Ali et al., 2014) The short nosed and green eyed Chlorophtalmus agassizi Bonaparte, 1840 showed similar description with what had been described by Whitehead et al (1986), Mnasri et al (2010), D’Onghia et al (2011) and Innal et al (2012), hence confirming its identification This species is found on the western and eastern sides of the Atlantic Ocean (Robins and Ray, 1986), it is known from Spain to Senegal and around Canary Islands (Sulak, 1984) In the Mediterranean Sea, it is distributed among western regions as a rare species (Stefanescu et al., 1994) It was reported in the Southern Gulf of Gabe`s, Tunisian waters (Ben Othman, 1971, 1973) then confirmed by Mnasri et al (2010) in central and northern areas (Bourgeois and Farina, 1961; Azouz, 1971, 1974) Moreover, it was reported as by catch species in central regions (D’Onghia et al., 2006) and in Eastern Mediterranean Sea 485 (Anastasopoulou and Kapiris, 2008) Its presence has generally been recorded by several authors in various countries of the Mediterranean Sea like Greek waters (Taaning, 1918; Kaspiris, 1973), Balearic Islands (Merella et al., 1997) the Ionian Sea, which was very abundant,(Anonymous, 1999; D’Onghia et al., 2003, 2006; Anastasopoulou et al., 2006) Santa Maria di Leuca, Mediterranean Sea by D’Onghia et al (2011) and Turkish parts as Aegean Sea (Filiz and Bilge, 2004; Bilecenoglu et al., 2014) and Antalya Gulf (Innal et al., 2012).These findings reflect a wide distribution in the Mediterranean Sea, but without any record in the Egyptian coast Regarding Avocettina infans, the information about it was found to be in agreement with that of Nelson (1994).Its distributed circum globally, in tropical to temperate waters, at the Northeast Pacific: Queen Charlotte Islands, British Colombia, Canada to Central Mexico, including the Gulf of California (Charter, 1996) and New England (Moore et al., 2003) Its distribution indicates no record of it in Egypt While the species of Argyropelecus hemigymnus showed similar characteristics with what had been described by Whitehead et al (1986) and Moore et al (2003).It is distributed throughout the Eastern North Atlantic and the Mediterranean, particularly in the western basin (Whitehead et al., 1986).It had also been reported in Greece and on the Italian coasts by D’Onghia et al (2003), Balertic Sea and Western Ionian Sea (D’Onghia et al., 2004) and also at the Levantine basin, Sea of Marmara and Aegean Sea (Bilecenoglu et al., 2014) The reported description of Notacanthus bonaparte Risso, 1840 was found to be in agreement with what had been described by Sulak (1986) and Basusta et al (2002a) It is distributed in Northeast Atlantic and Western Mediterranean by Isbert et al (2015) It is only recorded from the deep water of Ionian Sea, Eastern Mediterranean by Kaspiris (1973) and Matarrese et al (1996) It was also reported in Iceland (Whitehead et al., 1986), the Tyrrhenian Sea (Western Mediterranean) Sartor et al (2003) North East Mediterranean Sea by Basusta et al (2002a) and the Italian coasts (D’Onghia et al., 2003) It was also recently recorded in the Turkish Aegean Sea and Sea of Marmara (Bilecenoglu et al., 2014) Lampanyctus crocodilus was distributed in the Atlantic and was considered as an endemic Mediterranean fish species No record of it was made in Egypt (Whitehead et al., 1986) Carpine (1970) sampled it off Nice trawling at depths between 2200 and 2400 m In the Mediterranean Sea, Moranta et al (1998) reported its occurrence in the Balearic Islands at a maximum depth of 1800 m from the Tyrrhenian Sea (Sartor et al., 2003), Balertic Sea, Eastern and Western Ionian Sea (D’Onghia et al., 2004) and the Catalan Sea (Balearic Basin, NW Mediterranean) at depths from 423 to 1175 m using bottom trawls (Papiol et al., 2012) Recently, it has been reported from the Levantine basin, Aegean Sea coast and Sea of Marmara (Bilecenoglu et al., 2014) Measurements and descriptions recorded about Centrolophus niger agreed with those of Haedrich (1986), Golani et al (2006), Froese and Pauly (2009) and Ceyhan and Akyol (2011) The present species was caught by shrimp bottom trawl at depth from 300 to 400 m indicating that it is a meso-pelagic species It is widely spread throughout the Atlantic ocean (Mackay, 1972; Karlovac, 1974).It had recently been reported in New England by Moore et al (2003).In the Mediterranean Sea, the first confirmed record of it was by 486 Karrer (1986); then it was reported in Greece (D’Onghia et al., 2003) Also, C niger was recorded several times in Turkish coastal waters in Izmir Bay, Aegean Sea (Akyol, 2008), from Iskenderun Bay, Turkey (Erguăden et al., 2012) and from Liguria Sea and Western Mediterranean as by catch of traditional long lines (Garibaldi, 2015) Our findings of the distribution pattern, may suggest that C niger is not widely spread in different countries of the Mediterranean Sea The last added species here is Nettastoma melanurum which coincided with the key identification of Basusta et al (2002a) It is distributed in Eastern Atlantic, northward to Portugal and the Western Mediterranean (Whitehead et al., 1986) and in New England by Moore et al (2003).It was also found in the Eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey (Basusta et al., 2002b), Greece and the Italian coasts (D’Onghia et al., 2003), the Balertic Sea and Eastern and Western Ionian Sea (D’Onghia et al., 2004) and off the south-eastern Sardinian waters (central-western Mediterranean) by Porcu et al (2013) As mentioned above, the present species showed a wide distribution in Eastern and Western Atlantic Ocean, South Africa, Western Mediterranean and in some locations in Eastern Mediterranean, without any record of their existence in Egyptian waters, as in accordance to Fishbase (2010) This indicates that the deepest ichthyofauna is of Atlantic origins Their presence in eastern parts along with their absence in certain locations still remains a question To understand that, we must observe the general history of the deep-sea exploration in the Mediterranean which dates back to the end of the eighteenth century (Ryland, 2000) Moreover, the distance from the Gibraltar Strait as an entry to the shallow SiculoTunisian is still considered a geographical barrier to the bath benthic and bathypelagic faunal mixing between the west and east of the Mediterranean, as supported by Galil and Goren (1994) and Tortonese (1964).In addition to that, the primary production of chlorophyll a concentrations and carbon fluxes in Eastern Mediterranean is lower than that in Western Mediterranean (Danovaro et al., 1999) Melley et al (2000) reported that the nitrogen and phosphate concentrations were of about 90% and 129% respectively, in the western basin; that indicated that they are greater than those in the Ionian Sea due to the oligotrophic Mediterranean conditions On the other hand, there are many other deep-water Atlantic species that had showed widespread in the Mediterranean Sea like deep red shrimp A rostratus and N aequalis only off the Balearic Islands, regardless of the different trophic conditions between the west and east Mediterranean as indicated by this by Galil and Goren (1994) This may have encouraged the exploration and exploitation of deep sea resources which had already been carried out in the Mediterranean Spanish waters and Italian waters down to 800–1000 m of depth; this knowledge comes from a scientific research (D’Onghia et al., 1998; Ungaro et al., 1999) In the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, particularly in Egypt, there is a gap in knowledge about deep sea fisheries at depth more than 400 m dating back from 2011,eventhoughthe Egyptian coast of Mediterranean basin extends for about 1050 km and is considered one of the longest Mediterranean shores in North Africa However, this gap in knowledge may be due to (1) the main fishing ground being the continental shelf off the Nile Delta; it is of shallower water and mainly extends from Alexandria to Port Said, it is nearly in the central coastal line (2) the bulk of the bottom trawler fleet doesn’t work on depth more than 250 m, where its engine M.M.S Farrag power doesn’t exceed 450 hp The majority from 100 to 250 hp has no ability to catch deep water fauna, even the few boats of 800 hp concentrated their work in front of Nile delta) lack of fishing gear technology that gives the ability to catch deep water fauna Moreover, the research expeditions administrated by the National institute of Oceanography and Fisheries (NIOF), Egypt for the demersal fisheries survey along the Egyptian Mediterranean coast, does not operate at depth greater than 250 m Therefore, a lot of deep water ichthyofauna remains unknown to this time Recently, the first work in the Egyptian Mediterranean waters that conducted deep water at depth greater than 400 m was aimed at catching deep water red shrimp using Italian trawl in western and eastern parts of the Nile Delta, disregarding other ichthyofauna as by catch (Ibrahim et al., 2011).The present results updated this knowledge as it added new deep water ichthyofauna with emphasis on the discards Their presence and absence were checked and confirmed by many studies in Egypt (El-Sayed, 1994; 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areas by Sion et al (2004) and from northern coast of Israel (Goren and Galil, 2007)... the Mediterranean Sea, Moranta et al (1998) reported its occurrence in the Balearic Islands at a maximum depth of 1800 m from the Tyrrhenian Sea (Sartor et al., 2003), Balertic Sea, Eastern and. .. in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans and the Western Mediterranean (Gibbs, 1989) It had expanded from Greek territorial waters Deep- sea ichthyofauna of the Aegean Sea (Papaconstantinou,