52
Systematic Account
Distribution
M. lucens is a very abundant oceanic boreal
and temperate species, widespread in the
North Atlantic (Giesbrecht 1892; Sars 1903;
Wilson 1932). It has been found south of
New Zealand to within the Antarctic Circle
(Farran 1929). It has also been reported off
the coasts of Argentina (Ramirez 1970,1971)
and Chile (Marin and Antezana 1985;
Hirakawa 1989). Mazzocchi and lanora
(1991) found this species at Pacific stations
in the Straits of Magellan, where it was
reported as M. pacifica. The occurrence of
this species in the Pacific has been questioned
by a number of authors (Brodskii 1950;
Tanaka 1963) since it may have been confused with M. pacifica. The species undergoes
pronounced diel vertical migrations (Wilson
1932). In the present study, M. lucens was
present throughout the study area up to the
entrance of the Primera Angostura. It was
distributed at all depths but with maximum
abundances from 150-200 m in the Pacific
area and from 100-150 m in the Central area
of the Straits of Magellan.