Ephyrina ombango Crosnier & Forest, 1973

(Figs. 15 A–C, 16, 40 A)

Ephyrina ombango Crosnier & Forest, 1973: 68, figs. 20a, 21a, 22a. Chace 1986: 36 (key), figs 18, 19.— Vereshchaka 1990: 139.

Material examined. 2 M and 1 F, Pernambuco, Abracos 2 ST# 14/ Leg.1, Botton Throw, 50 m, 08° 19,44’ S / 034° 39,30’ W; 08° 19,46’ S / 034° 39,60’ W, 13 April 2017, MOUFPE: 18.404 . 1 M and 2 F, Fernando de Noronha, Abracos 2 ST# 39/ Leg.2, Midwater Tow, 800 m, 04/ 52,42’ S / 034° 3,61’ W; 04° 50,86’ S / 034° 5,11’ W, 24 April 2017, MOUFPE: 18.399 . 2 F, Fernando de Noronha, Abracos 2 ST# 42/ Leg.2, Midwater Tow, 800 m, 03° 15,46’ S / 031° 48,48’ W; 03° 15,43’ S / 031° 48,37’ W, 27 April 2017, MOUFPE: 18.406 . 1 M and 1 F, Fernando de Noronha, Abracos 2 ST# 46A/ Leg.2, Midwater Tow, 360 m, 04° 8,52’ S / 032° 18,23’ W; 04° 8,59’ S / 032° 17,46’ W, 29 April 2017, MOUFPE: 18.399 . 2 M and 2 F, Ceará Chain, Abracos 2 ST# 52A/ Leg.2, Midwater Tow, 984 m, 03° 43,26’ S / 033° 25,15’ W; 03° 42,22’ S / 033° 24,59’ W, 0 2 May 2017, MOUFPE: 18.397 . 1 F, Rocas Atoll, Abracos 2 ST# 53A/ Leg.2, Midwater Tow, 610 m, 03° 48,99’ S / 033° 59,217’ W; 03° 50,05 ‘ S / 033° 58,77’ W, 2 May 2017, MOUFPE: 18.403 .

Diagnosis: Rostrum directed moderately anterodorsal, anteroventral margin steeply oblique to nearly vertical, not curving regularly from orbit to apex; third pereopod with dactyl shorter than propodus and merus abdomen with third somite unarmed posteromesially, pleuron of fifth somite bluntly acute, rounded posteroventrally, sixth somite with pronounced longitudinal groove in dorsal midline in adults; telson shorter than 6th somite, not reaching distal end of mesial branch of uropod, bearing 5–12 pairs of dorsolateral spines aligned in single submarginal row (modified from Chace 1986).

Distribution: Gulf of Mexico, Brazil (Ceará Chain, Rocas Atoll and Fernando de Noronha Islands and Pernambuco) and Mid Atlantic Ridge. Eastern Atlantic: off Cape Verde, off Guinea, off Sao Tome: (Gulf of Guinea) Indo-Pacific Oceans: Cocos-Keeling Islands, Sulu Sea, Philippines, Banda Sea, Indonesia, off Panama, Easter Island, Nazca ridge, seamounts Sala y Gòmez (Crosnier & Forest 1973; Chace 1986; Pequegnat & Wicksten 2006) (Fig. 16).

Bathymetric distribution: 670–4000 m depth (Crosnier & Forest 1973; Chace 1986; Vereshchaka 1990; Burghart et al. 2007; 2017), herein this species was found in Brazilian waters between 50–984 m, thus extending its bathymetric distribution to shallower waters.

Remarks: This species is characterized by the carapace with vertical carina in gastric region, sixth somite with dorsal depression (sulcus) (Fig. 15B) and 5–12 dorsolateral spines on telson (Crosnier & Forest 1973; Chace 1986). It closely resembles Ephyrina figueirai Crosnier & Forest, 1973, in having the third somite smooth and sixth somite with dorsal groove, however, these species differ from each other in the following way (characters of E. figueirai in parentheses): third and fourth pereopod with dactyl shorter than propodus (vs longer than propodus), groove on sixth somite deep (vs reduced), telson with 5–12 dorsolateral spines (vs 7–16 dorsolateral spines). Ephyrina ombango have a worldwide distribution (Fig. 16), in bathypelagic zones (Chace 1986), but in western Atlantic, it has never been recorded. In this paper, the occurrence of E. ombango in Brazilian waters expands its world distribution and increases the knowledge about its geographic distribution at western Atlantic deep waters.