GIGANTACTINIDAE

Mincarone, Michael Maia, Afonso, Gabriel Vinícius Felix, Di Dario, Fabio, Eduardo, Leandro Nolé, Frédou, Thierry, Lucena-Frédou, Flávia, Bertrand, Arnaud & Pietsch, Theodore Wells, 2021, Deep-sea anglerfishes (Lophiiformes: Ceratioidei) from off northeastern Brazil, with remarks on the ceratioids reported from the Brazilian Exclusive Economic Zone, Neotropical Ichthyology 19 (2), pp. 1-28 : 17-19

GIGANTACTINIDAE

Females of the Gigantactinidae are distinguished by having an elongate, laterally compressed body; a long slender illicium, with highly variable lengths (less than SL to

nearly five times SL) emerging from the anteriormost tip of the snout; length of head less than 35% SL; mouth nearly horizontal, upper jaw extending slightly beyond lower jaw; epibranchial and ceratobranchial teeth absent; caudal peduncle unusually long and slender, more than 20% SL; 3–10 dorsal-fin rays, 3–8 anal-fin rays; caudal fin usually incised posteriorly, 9 caudal-fin rays, usually highly elongate. Males are probably free living, never parasitic (Pietsch, 2009).

In addition to the species recorded here, two species of the family have been previously reported in Brazilian waters: Gigantactis longicirra Waterman, 1939 and G. vanhoeffeni Brauer, 1902 . Gigantactis longicirra is known from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In the Atlantic, it occurs in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, Canada, south along the New England slope to the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, off Venezuela, and in the Gulf of Guinea. A single specimen was also collected off Espírito Santo State, Brazil ( MNRJ 30700, 19º48’29”S 39º02’21”W; Pietsch, 2009). Gigantactis vanhoeffeni is known from the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, with records in the Atlantic ranging from off western Greenland to the South Atlantic, including the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, Cape Verde Islands, Gulf of Guinea, and off South Africa (Bertelsen et al., 1981; Sutton et al., 2008; Pietsch, 2009; Porteiro et al., 2017). In Brazil, G. vanhoeffeni was recorded based on specimens collected off Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago ( MCZ 61049, 0º34’N 30º43’W) and off Espírito Santo State ( MNRJ 30708, 21º12’18”S 40º00’53”W; Costa et al., 2007; Pietsch, 2009; Mincarone et al., 2017; Melo et al., 2020: 188, as “ verhoeffeni ”) ( Fig. 5 ).

Two additional records of Gigantactis sp. in Brazilian waters are also known, one consisting of a female collected off Bahia State ( MNRJ 30699 , 13º30’28”S 38º38’59”W; Costa et al., 2007), and a female larva, collected off Rio de Janeiro State ( DZUFRJ 1286 , 22º06’52.3”S 39º48’46.2”W; Bonecker et al., 2014) ( Fig. 5 ).

Figures

FIGURE 5 | Records of the Caulophrynidae, Gigantactinidae, and Linophrynidae in Brazilian waters: Caulophryne sp. (pentagon), Gigantactis longicirra (square), Gigantactis vanhoeffeni (cross), Gigantactis watermani (triangle), Gigantactis sp. (diamond), Rhynchactis sp. (star), Linophryne arborifera (circle). Full symbols represent specimens collected during the ABRACOS surveys and open symbols are records from the literature (see text). Selected Brazilian States and oceanic islands are RN – Rio Grande do Norte, BA – Bahia, ES – Espírito Santo, RJ – Rio de Janeiro; SPA – Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago, FN – Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, RA – Rocas Atoll. Dashed line represents the outer limit of the Brazilian Exclusive Economic Zone.