Taxonomy of deep-sea shrimps of the Superfamily Oplophoroidea Dana 1852 (Decapoda: Caridea) from Southwestern Atlantic

Abstract

In this paper, we provide some available information about the occurrence and some taxonomic aspects of 19 species from the Superfamily Oplophoroidea in the southwestern Atlantic (Brazilian waters), with the update to 22 species of Oplophoroidea occurring in Brazilian waters. Samples were collected during two sets of surveys. The first was performed in 2009 and 2011 in the Potiguar Basin in northeast of Brazil (03–05°S; 38–35°W; between the States of Ceará and Rio Grande do Norte) under the framework of the project “Avaliação da biota bentônica e planctônica da Bacia Potiguar e Ceará (Bpot)”, with samples collected from bottom trawls in the continental slope at depth ranging from 150–2068 m. Second, under the in the framework of the ABRACOS (Acoustic along the Brazilian coast), performed in 2015 and 2017 on seamounts and offshore areas in Northeast Brazil (Ceará Chain, Rio Grande do Norte and Rocas Atoll, Fernando de Noronha Archipelago and Pernambuco State), with samples with pelagic micronekton and mesopelagic nets, in depths ranging from 50–1260 m. We highlight the occurrence of 14 species of the family Acanthephyridae and 5 species of the family Oplophoridae, including the first occurrences of five species to Brazilian deep waters: Acanthephyra kingsleyi Spence Bate, 1888, Ephyrina ombango Crosnier & Forest, 1973, Meningodora compsa (Chace, 1940), M. longisulca Kikuchi, 1985 and Systellapsis curvispina Crosnier, 1987. These records increase the knowledge on deep-sea shrimps occurring in Southwestern Atlantic.

The Amazon River plume, a barrier to animal dispersal in the Western Tropical Atlantic

“…The situation is slowly changing as the number of studies on marine biodiversity increased in the recent years in northeast e.g. 34 – 36 and north Brazil e.g. 37 – 39 .…”

A Mysterious World Revealed: Larval-Adult Matching of Deep-Sea Shrimps from the Gulf of Mexico

“…The family Acanthephyridae consists of seven genera, with six genera present in the Gulf of Mexico: Acanthephyra, Heterogenys, Hymenodora, Ephyrina, Meningodora and Notostomus [39,70]. This family inhabits only deep waters and meso-bathypelagic habitats, and many perform daily vertical migrations [87][88][89]. Past studies examining the larval biology of this family within the Gulf of Mexico is lacking, however some work does exist for species of Acanthephyra [90][91][92][93].…”

“…For Ephyrina ombango, the zoea differs from the adult in the shape of the rostrum. This includes the zoea possessing a blunt projection compared to the adult rostrum directed slightly anterodorsally [87][88][89].…”

“…The family Oplophoridae consists of three genera, all of which are present in the Gulf of Mexico [39,70]. The members of this family, like those of the family Acanthephyridae, inhabit deep waters in meso-bathypelagic habitats and perform daily vertical migrations [87,89]. For this family, larval stage illustrations have only been reported for two species, Oplophorus spinosus and Systellaspis debilis [67,90,91].…”

First record of Cnidocodon leopoldi Bouillon, 1978 (Cnidaria: Anthoathecata) in the Atlantic Ocean

“…Historically, planktonic cnidarian biodiversity from tropical areas in the western border of the Atlantic Ocean were understudied comparing to subtropical and temperate provinces. With recent progress in oceanographic research in Northeast Brazil this situation started changing not only for cnidarians (e.g., Farias et al, 2020;Tosetto et al, 2018Tosetto et al, , 2020Tosetto et al, , 2021aTosetto et al, , 2021b but also for other marine animals (e.g., Eduardo et al, 2018Eduardo et al, , 2020Alves-Jr. et al, 2019. Thus, the current report contributes not only to the understanding of local biodiversity, but also for an adequate comprehension of regional and global biogeographic and diversity patterns.…”