First Record Of Gauguin'S Blunt-Nose Lizardfish, Trachinocephalus Gauguini Polanco, Acero & Betancur 2016 (Teleostei: Synodontidae) Outside The Marquesas Archipelago

Trachinocephalus gauguini Polanco, Acero & Betancur, 2016 was described based on eighteen specimens collected from off the Marquesas Islands, the only location where this species has been recorded until now. Through morphological and molecular examination of Trachinocephalus specimens collected from an exploratory cruise conducted in June 2014 under the Tropical Deep-Sea Benthos program along the northern coast of the New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea, we demonstrate the presence of this species in Papua New Guinea waters. This new record suggests a wide distribution for this rarely collected species in the western Pacific Ocean.