Psychropotes depressa Cosmo

Psychropotes depressa (Théel, 1882) Reports for the Azores:

Euphronides talismani $ Perrier, 1902: 441–444, pl. 20, fig. 15; $ Hérouard 1902: 30–31, pl. 2, figs. 19–22; Mortensen 1927a: 375; Deichmann 1930: 129;

Psychropotes depressa (Théel, 1882) — $ Hansen 1975: 106–111, figs. 43–44, pl. 7, figs. 1–3, pl. 12, fig. 8, pl. 14, figs. 1–2; García-Diez et al. 2005: 52; $ Gebruk 2008: 50, 51.

Type locality: Gulf of Cadiz (35°47’N, 8°23’W).

See: Hansen (1975); Rogacheva et al. (2013: 599, figs. 17F–G).

Occurrence: cosmopolitan, in the Pacific and Atlantic; from off the coast of the United States (c. 40°N) south to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean (Deichmann 1930, Hansen 1975), eastwards off Iceland (Hansen 1975) and the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone south along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to the Azores (Gebruk 2008) and from the Rockall Trough (Gage et al. 1985) south to the Gulf of Guinea (Hansen 1975), including the Canaries (Perrier 1902).

Depth: 957– 4,060 m (Hansen 1975); AZO: 2,063 –3,050 m (Gebruk 2008).

Habitat: benthopelagic (Rogacheva et al. 2012); soft sediments (Perrier 1902).

Larval stage: direct (Tyler & Billett 1987).

Remarks: Perrier (1896b, 1902) described Euphronides talismani, based on a poorly preserved individual collected by Talisman in Azorean waters (sta 129, 1883: 38°00’00”N, 27°02’46”W, 2,220 – 2,155 m). Hansen (1975) re-examined the holotype and established the synonymy with P. depressa. Recently, Gebruk (2008) identified specimens at several stations on the north border of the Azorean waters, further substantiating the presence of this cosmopolitan species in the archipelago. Additionally, both juveniles and adults of P. depressa are known to occasionally swim when disturbed or to change locations on the sea floor (Gebruk et al. 1997; Rogacheva et al. 2012).