Hadropenaeus modestus

Hadropenaeus modestus (Smith, 1885)

(Fig. 1 A–B)

Hymenopenaeus modestus Smith, 1885:183.— Burkenroad 1936:104.— Bullis & Thompson 1965:5.— Crosnier & Forest 1973:259.

Haliporus modestus Bouvier, 1905:980; 1906:4; 1908:80.—A. Milne Edwards & Bouvier 1909: 209. — de Man 1911:7.— Fowler 1912:543.

Hadropenaeus modestus Pérez Farfante, 1977: 323, fig. 50.— Wanner & Read 1982: 188.— Abele & Kim 1986:8.—Ramos- Porto et al. 1987–1989: 224.— Coelho et al. 1990:23.—D’Incao, 1998: 316.— Coelho et al. 2006: 46 (table).

Material examined. 14 individuals, 3 Males, 11 Females, Potiguar Basin, MT# 62, 410 m, 04° 47.83' S / 036° 11.02' W, 8 May 2011, MOUFPE: 16794. 2 Females, Potiguar Basin, MT# 63, 416 m, 04° 36.24' S / 036° 45.75' W, 5 May 2011, MOUFPE: 16790. 1 Female, Potiguar Basin, MT# 64-2, 416 m, 8 May 2011, MOUFPE: 16792. 16 individuals, 4 Males, 12 Females, Potiguar Basin, MT# 65, 480 m, 04° 33.39' S / 036° 52.99' W, 8 May 2011, MOUFPE: 16793.

Diagnosis. Rostrum short, length 0.25–0.30 times of carapace, reaching little beyond midlength of first antennular article. Carpocerite overreaching the antennular article. Rostral spines plus epigastric totalizing 6 teeth, apex of third rostral tooth or fourth tooth at level of orbital margin. Adrostral carina extending from orbital margin to ultimate tooth; postrostral carina ending immediately behind cervical sulcus. Postorbital spine, longest of four lateral spines on carapace, situated dorsal to base of small antennal spine; branchiostegal and hepatic spines sharp. Cervical sulcus deep, ending dorsally just posterior to midlength of carapace at base of postrostral carina; cervical carina sharp, presence of setae dense and long on base of rostrum, gastric, and epigastric regions. Abdomen with high, sharp, median keel from fourth through sixth somites, low, rounded carina sometimes present on third; posterodorsal margin of third, fourth, and fifth somites with median incision; sixth somite bearing sharp spine at posterior end of keel, and minute spine on posteroventral angles. Telson with median sulcus deep anteriorly (Modified from Pérez Farfante 1977).

Geographic distribution. (Fig. 2) Western Atlantic: United States (Delaware, North and South Carolina's, Georgia, Florida), Bahamas, Gulf of Mexico, Lesser Antilles, Caribbean Sea, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela and Brazil: Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte and Alagoas (Crosnier & Forest 1973; Pérez Farfante 1977; Ramos-Porto et al. 1987 –1989; Coelho et al. 1990).

Bathymetric distribution. The specimens of H. modestus have been collected in Potiguar Basin between the depths of 410–480 m, however, their occurrence is usually between 146–550 m (Crosnier & Forest 1973; Pérez Farfante 1977; Coelho et al. 1990).

Remarks. The specimens analyzed herein showed the presence of six rostral spines, as observed by Smith (1885), differentiating from specimens analyzed by Pérez Farfante (1977) which have seven spines. The H. modestus is a known from United States (38°31’N) to Brazil (9°10’S) being a rare species from south Atlantic, recorded only once from Brazilian waters. This species was reported from Brazil by Pérez Farfante (1977) based on a single male taken through the middle waters tows collected off Barra Grande state of Alagoas (9°10’S) by the Challenger Expedition in 1873. The material studied herein comprises the second find of this species from the Brazil, based on material collected 138 years after Challenger Expedition. Due to the low sampling effort in deep waters beyond the continental slope H. modestus is probably more abundant and widely spread than is documented in Brazilian waters.