A new species of the deep-water catshark genus Apristurus from New Zealandwaters (Chondrichthyes : Scyliorhinidae)

A new deep-water catshark species, Apristurus exsanguis, is described based on twenty-nine specimens collected from the waters around New Zealand. It has strong similarities with Apristurus sp. B (Paulin et al., 1989) from Ne w Zealand, Apristurus sp. A (Last & Stevens, 1994) from Australia and Apris turus japonicus Nakaya, 1975, from Japan, but can be separated from species 'A' and 'B' by colouration, relative dorsal fin sizes and position, and sp iral valve count; and from A. japonicus by counts of spiral valves, tooth r ows and monospondylus vertebrae.