First report of Macruronus novaezelandiae (Gadiformes: Merluccidae: Macruroninae) from Atlantic tropical waters.

The occurrence of the merluccid Macruronus novaezelandiae from tropical waters off Bahia, eastern Brazil, is reported for the first time due to the capture of an adult of 712.3 mm standard length in May 2008, from a depth of 400 m. Until then no specimen had been reported north of 32°29′S on the South American Atlantic coast. This new record extends the species' range to about 2500 km northwards along the Brazilian coastline and is the first ever from tropical waters in the world. A comparison of the morphometric characters is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]