Morphology and molecular phylogenetic relationships of Barathronus multidens (Ophidiiformes: Bythitidae)

Deep-water Barathronus multidens (Ophidiiformes: Bythitidae) was previously known from the two type specimens from off the coast of Florida and Morocco. In this paper, we characterize morphologically and molecularly a juvenile (45 mm SL) caught by a Sigsbee trawl at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (16 degrees 50'N) between the surface and 3,227 m. DNA sequences of B. multidens are obtained for the first time. They are determined from the sequences of the mitochondrial genes ND4 and 16S, and the nuclear gene RAG 1. Within Bythitidae, the genera Barathronus and Sciadonus form a monophyletic clade. Sciadonus is nested within Barathronus with the B. multidens lineage being the earliest branching of the clade.