Record of stomatopods and decapods, including descriptions of the species of commercial interest from the submarine rises and surrounding waters of the Chilean oceanic islands (southeastern Pacific Ocean)

Abstract

The Chilean oceanic islands are located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean and include Easter Island, Salas y Gómez Island, Desventuradas Islands (San Félix Island and San Ambrosio Island), and the Juan Fernández Archipelago. They are of volcanic origin and are the emerged peaks of seamounts that form part of the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ranges that rise up from the Nazca tectonic plate. The islands are at a great distance from each other and from the South American continent, and their surrounding areas have depths around 4000 m to the ocean floor. The objective of this study is to update stomatopods and decapods records from these islands, from their surrounding waters and from the seamount ranges of which they are part of. Given that there is little information on some of these sites, and the records are disperse, a literature review is carried out, analysing different sources including both published reports and reports with limited circulation. To date, three families of Stomatopoda with five species and 57 families of Decapoda with 194 species have been recorded. Of this total, three species represent potential resources to develop fisheries and only another three are exploited to differing degrees (Jasus frontalis, Panulirus pascuensis and Chaceon chilensis). Their more relevant aspects, including their exploitation status, are described.

A new species of Munida Leach, 1820 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura: Munididae) from seamounts of the Nazca-Desventuradas Marine Park

“…Decapod crustaceans (mainly brachyurans) are among the taxa that included more new species or range extensions through this area in the last years, as reported by Zarenkov (1990; URRS expeditions), Retamal (2001), Retamal (2004) and Retamal & Arana (2016). It remains curious that only a few species of squat lobsters have been ever reported for this vast area, despite the fact that this group is generally abundant and species-rich in several marine ecosystems, particularly in seamounts (Schnabel et al, 2011).…”