An anomalous specimen of the deep-sea shrimp Glyphocrangon aculeata A. Milne-Edwards, 1881 (Decapoda, Caridea) from the South Atlantic Ocean

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, we report some morphological abnormalities for the deep-sea shrimp Glyphocrangon aculeata A. Milne-Edwards, 1881, collected from the western South Atlantic. All specimens analysed herein were collected in Potiguar Basin, located in northeastern Brazil, through bottom trawls along the continental slope between 150 and 2068 m depth in 2009 and 2011. Out of 59 specimens, one ovigerous female, collected at 1074 m depth, was registered with abnormalities in some regions of the carapace, abdomen and telson. Factors such as genetic mutations, nutritional alterations, or deformities during ecdysis are suggested as being the most probable cause of the deformities reported here.