Diplophos taenia Günther, 1873

Villarins, Bárbara T., Dario, Fabio Di, Eduardo, Leandro N., Lucena-Frédou, Flávia, Bertrand, Arnaud, Prokofiev, Artem M. & Mincarone, Michael M., 2022, Deep-sea dragonfishes (Teleostei: Stomiiformes) collected from off northeastern Brazil, with a review of the species reported from the Brazilian Exclusive Economic Zone, Neotropical Ichthyology (e 220004) 20 (2), pp. 1-78 : 8

Diplophos taenia Günther, 1873

( Fig. 2B )

Diagnosis. Diplophos taenia is distinguished from congeners by the presence of 90– 100 vertebrae; 11–13 gill rakers; 56–72 anal-fin rays; IV 42–48; OA 85–97; IC 104–115 (Ozawa et al., 1990; Kenaley, Stewart, 2015b; Koeda, Ho, 2019).

Geographical distribution. Circumglobal, between 40ºN and 55ºS (Mukhacheva, 1978; Pequeño, 1989; Ozawa et al., 1990; Quéro et al., 1990a; Kenaley, Stewart, 2015b; Sutton et al., 2020; Love et al., 2021). In the western Atlantic , D. taenia is reported from off Canada to Uruguay, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea (McAllister, 1990; Ozawa et al., 1990; McEachran, Fechhelm, 1998; Harold, 2003; Judkins, Haedrich, 2018). Previous records of the species in Brazilian waters were made off the northeastern coast (including oceanic islands), the Vitória-Trindade Chain (Montague and Davis seamounts), and off Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul States (Figueiredo et al., 2002; Menezes et al., 2003; Braga et al., 2007; Pinheiro et al., 2015; Eduardo et al., 2020c). Additional records are also known off northeastern Brazil, outside the EEZ (Parin et al., 1974; Olivar et al., 2017). Larvae were reported along the Vitória-Trindade Chain and off Rio de Janeiro State (Bonecker, Castro, 2006, 2014; Stocco, Joyeux, 2015). The specimens reported here were collected off the Rocas Atoll , Fernando de Noronha Archipelago , and Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte States (including the seamounts), between depths of 25 and 1,113 m ( Fig. 3A ) .

Specimens examined. 25 (42–129 mm SL): NPM 3291, 1 (76 mm), AB1#4; NPM 3292, 1 (51 mm), AB1#15; NPM 3293, 1 (46 mm), AB1#31; NPM 4562, 1 (100 mm), AB2#39; NPM 4563, 7 (49–106 mm), AB2#40A; NPM 4566, 1 (129 mm), AB2#59A; NPM 4567, 6 (42–73 mm), AB2#41B; NPM 4569, 1 (92 mm), AB2#49B; NPM 4614, 3 (49–77 mm), AB2#41A; NPM 6066, 3 (53–61 mm), AB2#45B.

Figures

FIGURE 2 | A. Diplophos australis, NPM 4564, 99 mm SL; B. Diplophos taenia, NPM 4566, 129 mm SL; C. Manducus maderensis, NPM 4530, 63 mm SL; D. Triplophos hemingi, NPM 4561, 196 mm SL. Scale bars = 10 mm.

FIGURE 3 | Records of species of Diplophidae (A), Gonostomatidae (B, C) and Sternoptychidae (D, E, F) collected during the ABRACOS expeditions off northeastern Brazil. Oceanic islands: RA, Rocas Atoll; FN, Fernando de Noronha Archipelago.