Taxonomic study of the genus Apristurus (Scyliorhiniddae, Chondrichthyes)

Apristurus属是深海猫鲨的一个类群，其分类与鲜为人知的物种以及许多已发表或未发表的未描述物种极为混淆。目前已有31种被确认为不同种。此外，在世界海洋中还发现了相当多未被描述的物种。外部和内部检查，形态计量学和分生特征分析表明，该属内存在三个亚群。所有的物种都被分配到三组中的一组。第一类群，长鼻群的特征是前鼻孔较长，包含两个种，即黑头金鱼和长头金鱼。第二组为短吻海绵肌组，上唇沟较短，螺旋瓣较少。第三类群中，短吻斑点罗非鱼的上唇沟较长，螺旋瓣数量较多，有费多罗维、深吻、坎帕等9种。对这些类群的分类处理一直没有解决，直到对角鲨形鲨的系统发育进行了考虑。一些新发现的未被描述的物种正在发表中，或将在合适的期刊上发表。

Genus Apristurus is a group of deep sea catsharks, and the taxonomy of the genusis is extremely confusing with poorly known species, and many undescribed species which have been either published or unpublished.Nominal species were taxonomically analyzed, comparing with data of type specimens, which were directly taken by the present author. Thirty one species were recognized as distinct at present. In addition, quite many undescribed species were found from the world oceans. External and internal examination, and morphometric and meristic character analyzes suggested the presence of three subgroups within the genus. All the species were assigned to one of the three groups. First groups, the long-snouted group is characterized by long snout before nostrils, and contains two species, A.herklotsi and A.longicephalus. Second group, short-snouted spongiceps group is characterized by short upper labial furrow and less number of spiral valves. This contains 20 species, like A.atlanticus, A.platyrhynchus, A.laurussoni, A.parvipinnis, etc. Third group, short-snouted brunneus group has longer upper labial furrow and more number of spiral valves, with 9 species, such as A.fedorovi, A.profundorum, and A.kampae. Taxonomic treatments of these groups were left unsolved, until the phylogenetic consideration of the carcharhiniform sharks. Some of the newly found undescribed species are in press, or will be published in the suitable journals.