Melanostomias biseriatus Regan & Trewavas, 1930

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 : 57

Melanostomias biseriatus Regan & Trewavas, 1930

( Fig. 17B )

Diagnosis. Melanostomias biseriatus differs from congeners by the chin barbel length, about 20–40% SL; barbel with a slender stem and a flattened distal tip terminating in a prominent ovoid bulb; length of the expanded distal part of the chin barbel about 10 times longer than wide; the distal tip of chin barbel bears two narrow flattened wings with a row of small and discrete opaque luminous bodies on each side; PV 27–30; OV 26–28 (Morrow, Gibbs, 1964; McEachran, Fechhelm, 1998; Sutton et al., 2020).

Geographical distribution. North Atlantic , between 35º and 5º N, and a single record in the North Pacific Ocean (Gibbs, 1960; Morrow, Gibbs, 1964; Moore et al., 2003; Sutton et al., 2020). In the western Atlantic , the species is reported from off the United States to French Guiana , including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea (Morrow, Gibbs, 1964; Bekkker et al., 1975; Fujii, 1983d; Judkins, Haedrich, 2018). Melanostomias biseariatus is therefore reported for the first time in the western South Atlantic based on two specimens collected between depths of 610 and 680 m off Pernambuco State and the Rocas Atoll , in the Brazilian EEZ ( Fig. 14E ). Two additional specimens collected outside the Brazilian EEZ off north South America ( MCZ 132252 ) and off northeastern Brazil ( ISH 665-1966 ) likely represent further records of the species in the western South Atlantic .

Specimens examined. 2 (29–177 mm SL): NPM 4603, 1 (177 mm), AB2#53A; NPM 4815,

1 (29 mm), AB2#16.

Figures

FIGURE 14 | Records of species of the Melanostomiinae (A–F) collected during the ABRACOS expeditions off northeastern Brazil. Oceanic islands: RA, Rocas Atoll; FN, Fernando de Noronha Archipelago.

FIGURE 17 | A. Melanostomias bartonbeani, NPM 4609, 185 mm SL; B. Melanostomias biseriatus, NPM 4603, 177 mm SL; C. Melanostomias tentaculatus, NPM 3181, 201 mm SL. Scale bars = 10 mm.