Two forms of the lanternshark,Etmopterus, reported from Taiwan waters under the nameEtmopterus lucifer were reexamined.E. lucifer sensu Teng (1959), Chen (1963) and Shen and Ting (1972) does not conform to the original description ofE. lucifer Jordan et Snyder, 1902. One form described by Shen and Ting (1972) conformsto E. splendidus Yano, 1988, whereas another form reported by Teng (1959) and Chen (1963) agrees well withE. molleri (Whitley, 1939). These were identified based on a combination of the following characters: shape and length of the flank and caudal markings, position of the posterior end of flank markings, shape of the upper teeth, distributional patterns of dermal denticles on the second dorsal fin and preoral area, and length of the caudal peduncle.