Further records of Eurythenes obesus (Chevreux, 1905) (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Eurytheneidae) from Brazilian deep waters

The family Eurytheneidae Stoddart & Lowry, 2004 is monotypic, including only the genus Eurythenes Smith, 1882, which is composed by meso- and benthopelagic amphipods, with large vertical distribution in water column and can be reach depths of 5000 m, especially in muddy bottoms, in association with the great offer of organic matter in deep environments. Eurythenes is represented by nine species, with a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring in all oceans and covering high latitudes. However, in Atlantic Ocean, only five species are reported: Eurythenes obesus (Chevreux, 1905), E. magellanicus (H. Milne Edwards, 1848) as [= E. gryllus (Lichtenstein in Mandt, 1822)], E. maldoror d’Udekem d’Acoz & Havermans, 2015, E. sigmiferus d’Udekem d’Acoz & Havermans, 2015 and E. thurstoni Stoddart & Lowry, 2004, being the E. obesus reported only from the States of Rio de Janeiro and Bahia in Brazilian waters. In this study, we recorded the presence of E. obesus in Northeast of Brazil at seamounts (Fernando de Noronha Chain – off Rocas Atoll) and off the state of Rio Grande do Norte. This record brings a new observation of E. obesus from Brazil and increases knowledge on the deep crustaceans from the northeastern Brazil.

 

dx.doi.org/10.18561/2179-5746/biotaamazonia.v11n1p94-95

Reference

Alves-Júnior F.A., Cintra I.H.A., Silva K.C.A. Fidelis J.F.S., Bertrand A. 2021. Further records of Eurythenes obesus (Chevreux, 1905) (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Eurytheneidae) from Brazilian deep waters. Biota Amazônia, 11: 94-95.