Deep-sea smelts, pencil smelts, and barreleyes (Teleostei: Argentiniformes) from oceanic islands and seamounts off northeastern Brazil

ABSTRACT

New data on the taxonomic composition and distribution of rare deep-sea species of the Bathylagidae, Microstomatidae, and Opisthoproctidae (Argentiniformes) collected off northeastern Brazil, including the Rocas Atoll, the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, and seamounts off Rio Grande do Norte State are provided. Collections were made by the French RV Antea during the ABRACOS 2 (Acoustics along the BRAzilian COaSt) expedition, between April 9 and May 6, 2017. Among the six species of argentiniforms identified, three are reported for the first time in Brazilian waters: Xenophthalmichthys danae (Microstomatidae), Opisthoproctus soleatus and Rhynchohyalus natalensis (Opisthoproctidae). Three additional species previously recorded off Brazil have their geographic distributions extended to the northeastern region of the country: Dolicholagus longirostris, Melanolagus bericoides (Bathylagidae), and Winteria telescopa (Opisthoproctidae). Remarks on other species of the Argentiniformes reported in the Brazilian Exclusive Economic Zone are also provided. A total of 11 genera and 14 species of the order are confirmed to occur in the region.

KEYWORDS:

• Mesopelagic fishes
• seamounts
• Rocas Atoll
• Fernando de Noronha Archipelago
• western Tropical Atlantic

Acknowledgements

We thank the French oceanographic fleet for funding the ABRACOS at-sea survey and the officers and crew of the RV Antea for their contribution to the success of the operations. Thanks also to team members of the BIOIMPACT (UFRPE) and LIZ (NUPEM/UFRJ) labs, for curatorial assistance; Artem Prokofiev, for providing Russian literature; and two anonymous referees for their valuable suggestions and comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study is a contribution to the LMI TAPIOCA and to the EU H2020 TRIATLAS project, which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 [grant 817578]. The NPM Fish Collection is supported by the Fundo Brasileiro para a Biodiversidade (FUNBIO) [grant ‘Pesquisa Marinha e Pesqueira 104/2016’]. Júlia Martins was supported by FUNBIO and PROTAX/CNPq; Leandro Eduardo was supported by CAPES (grant 88882.436215/2019-01), CAPES-Print (grant 88887.364976/2019-00), and FUNBIO/HUMANIZE (‘Programa Bolsas Funbio - Conservando o Futuro’ - 011/2019); Michael Mincarone, Fabio Di Dario, Thierry Frédou, and Flávia Lucena-Frédou are supported by CNPq [grants 314644/2020-2, PROTAX 443302/2020, 307422/2020-8, and 308554/2019-1, respectively].