10 from Chile (162.9-338.4 mm SL), FAKU CP 38, 125, 387 464, 484-489.
Description:
D W, 13-16; A ?W, 26-29; P1 T, 17; P2 T, 11; GR 5-7+1+17-19=23-25; BR 8; LLS 74-83.
HL 34.0-36.4% of SL; ED 11.1-12.7; BD 36.4-41.8; SN 6.7-7.5; IO 7.1-7.6; UJ 18.0-19.1; CP 9.7-11.5; P1L 24.4-29.1; P2L 21.1-24.7; D1H 19.4-24.7 (young 59.3); A1 14.6-17.7.
Body elongate and fairly compressed. Head large, 2.7-2.9 times in SL, body depth 2.4-2.7 times in SL. Snout very short, shorter than half of eye diameter. Mouth large and oblique, posterior end of maxilla reaching beyond mideye level. Lower jaw anterior to upper jaw. Eye very large, about 3 times in HL. Two nostrils, posterior nostril twice larger. A stout spine on anterior part of eye. Teeth on both jaws in narrow band. Interorbital region wide and naked, its width about equal to snout length. Pseudobranchiae present. Ctenoid scales on body, isthmus, preopercle and opercle. Each scale with 2 to 7 fine spines posteriorly and a cartilaginous process at middle of inner surface. Lateral line single, running straight onto caudal fin. Dorsal fin stout, its origin above pelvic fin origin and its base. about equal to pelvic fin length. First dorsal fin ray extremely elongate in young. Pectoral fin large, its tip reaching beyond lateral line when depressed. Anal fin moderate, its origin slightly posterior to end of dorsal fin base. Anal fin base 1.5 times in dorsal fin base. Caudal peduncle fairly long, its depth about equal to eye diameter.
Distribution:
Widely distributed in the Atlantic and in hthe western Pacific, Japan, Australia and New Zealand (Woods and Sonoda, 1973). This seems to be a new record to Chile, as Bahamonde and Pequeño (1975) did not record this species in Chile.
Remarks:
The closely related species, B. decadactylus, is distributed in the Indo-West Pacific. This species is common off the Atlantic coast of South America (Krefft, 1976).