A new species of deep-sea synaphobranchid eel, Haptenchelys parviocularis (Anguilliformes: Synaphobranchidae), from Japan

A new synaphobranchid eel Haptenchelys parviocularis is described on the basis of 15 specimens (467-840 mm in total length) collected off the Pacific coast of southern Japan, in depths of 4,093-4,866 m. The new species is distinguishable from its single congener, Haptenchelys texis Robins and Martin in Robins and Robins 1976, in having the following combination of characters: total vertebrae 127-137, caudal vertebrae 90-98; snout short, length 42.5-53.1 % upper-jaw length; eye much smaller than gill-slit aperture, diameter 37.5-59.4 % gill-slit length and 11.8-16.9 % upper-jaw length; eye positioned closer to middle of mouth gape (postorbital length-to gape 23.5-32.5 % head length and 40.5-50.9 % upper-jaw length); gill-slit aperture wide (15.8-22.1 % head length and 24.8-35.7 % upper-jaw length), orientation oblique to body axis.