First Report of Rare Pomfrets (Teleostei: Bramidae) from Brazilian Waters, with a Key to Western Atlantic Species

Abstract

This is the first in a series of reports describing new records caught with circle hooks, a method only now being employed in exploratory fishing in Brazilian deep waters. Several new records of deep-water fishes were obtained with this equipment. In this paper we record for the first time the occurrence of two genera and species of Bramidae in Brazilian waters: the tropical pomfret Eumegistus brevorti and the keeltail pomfret Taractes rubescens. We also report on previously unnoticed collection records from preserved specimens of Pterycombus brama in museum collections, and the first capture of an adult bigscale pomfret Taractichthys longipinnis in Brazil. These new records increase the number of bramid species known from Brazilian waters to ten. The addition of P. brama to the Brazilian Bramidae makes the Southwestern Atlantic the only known area of the world where two species of Pterycombus are found together. Meristic, biometric, and new biological data are presented for Eumegistus brevorti. Some species of bramids are rather rare and even if well described in the literature there are morphological characters and behavioral aspects yet to be added. Herein we present detailed descriptions of some bramid species to add to their published descriptions. A key to the Western Atlantic Bramidae is provided.