A scalloped hammerhead Sphyrna lewini was observed opportunistically from a remotely operated vehicle 1 m off the seabed at 1042 m depth, during hydrocarbon exploration activities in the Ruvuma Basin off Tanzania. The observation, which occurred during night hours, is the deepest accurately recorded for this species and the first deep-water record for the Indian Ocean. The record adds support for the occurrence in deep water during night hours being a widespread and possibly common behaviour in this species, and further expands a small but growing literature that meso- and bathypelagic environments may be of greater importance to elasmobranchs previously considered to be primarily epipelagic.

A fifth confirmed Neocyema specimen, caught in the Denmark Strait off the coast of south-east Greenland, provides a North Atlantic range expansion for the genus and is compared to all four previous records. Due to taxonomic issues with both adults and larvae, the new specimen from waters near Greenland is tentatively referred to as Neocyema erythrosoma and represents the largest specimen ever recorded. Morphological and molecular data are included for future comparisons. Distributional and morphological differences exist between specimens, although the present rarity of these fishes precludes an evaluation of diversity within Neocyema.

Six deep-sea fish species are recorded for the first time off north-eastern Brazil: Conger esculentus, Talismania homoptera, Physiculus kaupi, Ectreposebastes imus, Centrodraco oregonus and an unidentified species of Myroconger. The material was caught during the Programme REVIZEE (Programme for Assessment of the Sustainable Yield of Living Resources of the Exclusive Economic Zone) and by commercial fishery operations from 1998 to 2005 off the coasts of Ceará and Rio Grande do Norte States. These new records extend the geographical distribution range and fill geographical distribution gaps of the species herein reported.