Pisces, Ophidiiformes, Ophidiidae, Brotula barbata (Bloch & Schneider, 1801): filling distribution gaps

Abstract

Brotula barbata is recorded for the first time from Ceará, northeastern Brazil. The species was previously known in the western Atlantic from North Carolina to southeastern Brazil, but there are some gaps between these regions. A single specimen was collected from a traditional line fishing fleet operating in the Mucuripe Sea, Ceará, during August 2007. We noticed a meristic difference between the specimen examined and the information from the literature. However this difference did not make the identification difficult. The new record of B. barbata fills geographic distribution gaps of this species in the western Atlantic