PRISTIOPHORUS NANCYAE, A NEW SPECIES OF SAWSHARK (CHONDRICHTHYES: PRISTIOPHORIDAE) FROM SOUTHERN AFRICA

A new species of sawshark, Pristiophorus nancyae sp. nov., is described from eight specimens collected off Mozambique. The new species is the second member of the family Pristiophoridae and first member of the genus Pristiophorus described from the western Indian Ocean. The new Pristiophorus species can be distinguished from the sympatric occurring six-gilled sawshark, Pliotrema warreni Regan, 1906, most notably by having five paired gill openings as opposed to six. The new species is distinguished from all other Pristiophorus species by several distinctive characteristics. Most notably, the new species differs by having a very distinctive double row of four to five conspicuous large pits anterior to the nasal barbels on the underside of its snout. Other distinguishing characteristics include a broad, triangular first dorsal fin with a rear tip that extends behind the pelvic midbases, barbels much closer to mouth than snout tip, two rows of enlarged pits on the underside of the pre-barbel rostrum, ridges on the base of its large lateral rostral teeth, mostly tricuspidate, flat, imbricated lateral trunk denticles, and plain color pattern. The new species is compared to the five other known Pristiophorus species. and a revised key to the genus is presented.