| This study is a taxonomic revision of the genus Cephaloscyllium (Gill 1862) (Chondrichthyes: Carcharhiniformes: Scyliorhinidae) from the western North and the eastern Pacific based on morphometric and meristic data. Concerning the western North Pacific, this study formally places C. parvum Inoue & Nakaya 2006 in synonymy with C. sarawakensis Yano et al. 2005, re-describes C. umbratile (Jordan and Fowler 1903) and C. fasciatum Chan 1966, and describes two new species from Taiwanese waters. A key to the species of Cephaloscyllium is presented for this region. For the eastern Pacific, a re-description of C. ventriosum (Garman 1880) is provided based on the Chilean holotype specimen. Cephaloscyllium uter (Jordan & Gilbert 18%) is upheld as a junior synonym of the former based on a comparison of the holotype with California specimens. Finally, the zoogeography of the genus is discussed in detail. The hypothesized center of origin of swell sharks is the Indo-West Pacific and distribution patterns can be attributed to dispersal events. |
