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Esca with a single, elongate, internally pigmented anterior appendage, trilobed distally with three, tiny, round translucent "windows"; anterior escal appendage flanked laterally on each side by an elongate unpigmented swelling; medial escal appendages absent; a posterior escal appendage consisting of a swollen basal portion and a somewhat compressed distal crest; two or three filamentous anterolateral escal appendages on each side (holotype with three on each side, most distal two sharing a common base, third more proximal in position; paratype with three on left, two on right, arising from common base); one or two, elongate lateral illicial filaments on each side (holotype with two on left, one on right; paratype with two on each side), each somewhat compressed proximally, gradually tapering and becoming cylindrical distally, proximal portions lightly pigmented; subcutaneous, internally pigmented, descending escal appendage extending proximally along anterior margin of illicium, a small portion (length 5.3–2.0% SL) emerging as a free, anterodorsally directed tentacle.
Head length 53.3–50.0% SL; least width between frontals 15.1–13.3% SL; premaxilla length 42.2–8.3% SL; lower-jaw length 58.9–58.7; illicium length 21.1–22.9% SL; escal-bulb width 5.1–3.9% SL; number of teeth in upper jaw 37–45, in lower jaw 35–36; ratio between number of teeth in upper jaw to number of teeth in lower jaw 1.06–1.25; vomerine teeth 5 or 6; dorsal-fin rays 8; anal-fin rays 6; pectoral-fin rays 17 or 18.
Metamorphosed females of C. quasiramifera are easily distinguished from those of all other species of the genus in having one or two, elongate illicial filaments arising laterally just below base of escal bulb (comparable only to C. ramifera, which has a series of seven to twelve, elongate illicial filaments on each side); it differs further in having the following combination of character states: descending escal appendage extending along anterior margin of illicium, a small proximal portion emerging at articulation of illicium and illicial pterygiophores as a free, anterodorsally directed tentacle (comparable only to some specimens of C. ramifera); illicium short, 21.1–22.9% SL (comparable only to C. melanorhabdus); and a greater number of dorsal- and anal-fin ray counts (D. 8, A. 6; comparable only to C. ramifera).
Chaenophryne quasiramifera is known from only two specimens, both collected in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean, the holotype from the Peru-Chile Trench, at approximately 20°S, 71°W, in gear fished open between the surface and 900 m, over a bottom depth of 5856 m; the paratype from the Nasca Ridge, 16°S, 75°W, in gear fished open between the surface and 1130 m, over a bottom depth of 5307 m.
Meso- to bathypelagic.
Pietsch TW. 2009. Oceanic Anglerfishes: Extraordinary Diversity in the Deep Sea. Berkley: University of California Press. 638 p.
The body of metamorphosed females is short and globular. The mouth is large, its cleft extending past the eye. The illicium length is 20.1–47.4% SL, becoming longer proportionately with growth.
The anterior end of the pterygiophore of preserved specimens is usually concealed under the skin, within the illicial trough, but apparently capable of considerable forward extension (as in Oneirodes and ceratiids). The esca bears a single, conical to elongate, anterior escal appendage or appendages, internally pigmented, with one or three round translucent windows at its tip. Filamentous medial escal appendages are absent. A posterior escal appendage, consisting of a swollen basal portion and a compressed distal crest, is present, bearing none to numerous filaments anteriorly or distally, with a pair of fringed anterior lobes. A subcutaneous internally pigmented appendage emerges from the base of the esca and descends along the anterior margin of the illicial bone.
The teeth are slender, recurved, and all depressible, arranged in overlapping sets as described for other oneirodids. The teeth in the lower jaw are larger and slightly more numerous than those in the upper jaw. There are 21–51 teeth in the upper jaw and 26–57 in the lower jaw. Jaw teeth are few and rudimentary in specimens smaller than approximately 18 mm. The vomer bears 4–8 teeth, the longest tooth outermost. The second and third pharyngobranchials are well developed and toothed. Epibranchial and ceratobranchial teeth are absent.
As with most oneirodid taxa, males of the genus Chaenophryne are free-living and presumed non-parasitic.
Known from two metamorphosed females (45–98 mm).
THOMAS WASHINGTON, cruise Southtow IV/MV 72-II, station MV-72-II-23, Peru-Chile Trench, 20°19.2' S, 71°14.9' W, 3-m Isaacs-Kidd Mid-water Trawl, 0–900 m, bottom depth 5856 m, 0023–0815 hr, 3 May 1972.
Holotype of Chaenophryne quasiramifera: SIO 72-180, 98 mm.
