During cruise 17 of the Vityaz', numerous specimens of a new species of Caelorinchus, C. vityazae, were collected off Walters Shoals in the Indian Ocean south of Madagascar. The new species is here described from 32 specimens collected at five different localities within the southeastern Atlantic and southwestern Indian Ocean in the biogeographical area defined by Collette and Parin (1991) as the West Wind Drift Island Province. Caelorinchus vityazae is a member of the C. fasciatus species group whose 14 members are confined primarily to temperate waters of the southern hemisphere, with most species found off Australia and New Zealand. The new species can be distinguished from others of the clade by the combination of having 10-11 prominent saddle marks, a naked underside of head, and a sharply pointed terminal snout scute. Of the 22 other species of grenadiers recorded from Walters Shoals, most are widespread in the southern hemisphere or circumglobal.
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