The presence of the opal chimaera, Chimaera opalescens, is reported for the first time in the deep waters of the Azores, with the capture of four specimens by fishermen and the video recording of an additional five individuals. Species identification was supported by the 646bp sequenced fragment of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase subunit I (mtDNA COI). Since C. opalescens is a recently recognized species that had been recurrently misidentified as rabbitfish, Chimaera monstrosa, a review of the historical data of C. monstrosa in the Azores was performed to assess the possible presence of both Chimaera species in the region. Although several authors have reported the occurrence of C. monstrosa in the Azorean waters since the 1800s, the majority of these are based on only three specimens caught during the late 1800s. From the investigation performed using literature and examination of the museum specimens still available, we concluded that the most likely scenario is that C. monstrosa is absent from the Azores and past records of that species in the region are most likely misidentifications of C. opalescens. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

中文翻译：

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蛋白石嵌合体 Chimaera opalescens (Holocephali: Chimaeridae) 的首次记录及亚速尔群岛水域兔鱼 Chimaera monstrosa 出现的修正

蛋白石嵌合体 Chimaera opalescens 的存在首次在亚速尔群岛的深水中被报道，渔民捕获了四个标本，并记录了另外五个个体的视频。线粒体基因细胞色素氧化酶亚基 I (mtDNA COI) 的 646bp 测序片段支持物种鉴定。由于 C. opalescens 是最近公认的物种，经常被误认为是兔鱼 Chimaera monstrosa，因此对亚速尔群岛 C. monstrosa 的历史数据进行了审查，以评估该地区可能存在两种 Chimaera 物种。尽管有几位作者报告了自 1800 年代以来亚速尔群岛水域中出现 C. monstrosa，但其中大部分仅基于 1800 年代后期捕获的三个标本。通过使用文献进行的调查和对博物馆标本的检查，我们得出结论，最有可能的情况是亚速尔群岛没有 C. monstrosa，该地区该物种的过去记录很可能是 C. opalescens 的错误识别。本文受版权保护。版权所有。