Diversity and evolution of deep-sea fishes: DEEP-OCEAN

• Grant number: 17/12909-4
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Young Investigators Grants
• Duration: March 01, 2018 - February 29, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Roberto Souto de Melo
• Grantee: Marcelo Roberto Souto de Melo
• Host Institution: Instituto Oceanográfico (IO). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Anderson Garbuglio de Oliveira ; Christian Hoffmann ; Claudio de Oliveira
• Associated scholarship(s): 22/01463-3 - Evolution and biological function of fluorescent filters in the photophores of dragonfishes (Teleostei: Stomiiformes), BP.PD; 22/14954-5 - Management, identification and cataloging of ichthyological material collected during the DEEP-OCEAN Project., BP.TT; 22/08860-8 - DEEP-OCEAN: ecological studies in deep-sea fishes, BP.IC; + associated scholarships 22/07651-6 - DEEP-OCEAN: sorting and identification of deep-sea fishes, BP.IC; 21/10852-0 - DEEP-OCEAN project: taxonomy of the Genus Ventrifossa Gilbert & Hubbs, 1920 (Macrouridae: Gadiformes), BP.IC; 19/20912-0 - Diversity and evolution of deep-sea fishes - DEEP-OCEAN, BP.IC; 19/20913-7 - Diversity and evolution of deep-sea fishes - DEEP-OCEAN, BP.IC - associated scholarships

Abstract

The deep ocean is the largest ecosystem on earth, and has extremes conditions for life due to its low temperature, high pressure and gradual reduction of sun light, which makes photosynthesis impossible starting at 200 m depth until total darkness, from 1,000 m and beyond. It is estimated that 10 to 15% of all fish species inhabit depths greater than 500 m. In Brazil, the REVIZEE project (1994-2004) created a basic knowledge about Brazilian deep-sea fish diversity, recording 734 species of Myxini, Chondrichthyes and Osteichthyes. However, the high costs of equipment and research vessels necessary for the expeditions represented a limitation to further developing the projects, leaving large unexplored areas, and a relatively small number of samples deposited on scientific collections useful for taxonomic reviews and molecular analyses. In the DEEP-OCEAN project (Diversity and evolution of deep-sea fishes), different aspects of deep-sea fish biodiversity will be examined. The major goal is to obtain new samples of fishes and invertebrates, including tissues for molecular analysis, from 500 to 2,000 m depths, from South and Southeast Brazil and the Rio Grande rise. The specific objectives include studies of taxonomy, phylogeny, and biogeography of deep-sea fishes, using both traditional and molecular methods of DNA barcoding, and to understand the mechanisms of coevolution of chemical compounds (luciferin and luciferase) and symbiotic bacteria in bioluminescent fish. The trawls will be made on board of the R/V Alpha Crucis using bottom and mid-water nets. The expeditions and analyses will be made in collaboration with Drs. Anderson Oliveira (USP), Christian Hoffman (USP), Claudio Oliveira (UNESP), Paulo Sumida (IO-USP), Rodrigo Caires (prospective postdoctoral fellow at IO-USP), and Tracey Sutton (Nova Southeastern University), besides undergraduate and graduate students. The project will have a major role in generating data to improve our understanding about the impacts caused by fisheries, oil extraction, and mining industries on the deep-sea fauna of the Western South Atlantic. (AU)

Scientific publications

(7)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

TEIXEIRA, TULIO F.; MELO, MARCELO R. S.. A new species of Characidium Reinhardt (Characiformes: Crenuchidae) from the Rio Huallaga, central Peruvian Amazon, with a review of secondary sexual characters in the genus. Journal of Fish Biology, v. 98, n. 1, OCT 2020. (12/01263-2, 17/12909-4)

TREVISAN, JOAO PEDRO; CAIRES, RODRIGO ANTUNES; SILVA CARVALHO, VINICIUS ESTRELLA; ROTUNDO, MATHEUS MARCOS; PASCHOA DOS SANTOS, JOAO ALBERTO. The first record of burrowing goby Trypauchen vagina (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) (Gobiiformes: Gobiidae: Amblyopinae) from the Atlantic Ocean. Journal of Fish Biology, v. 101, n. 5, p. 5-pg., 2022-08-10. (17/12909-4)

ESPINDOLA, VINICIUS C.; CAIRES, RODRIGO A.; TIGHE, KENNETH A.; DE PINNA, MARIO C. C.; DE MELO, MARCELO R. S.. A new species of the rare genus Myroconger G?nther, 1870 (Anguilliformes: Myrocongridae) from Brazilian waters, tropical western Atlantic. Zootaxa, v. 4965, n. 3, p. 529-540, APR 29 2021. (17/12909-4)

SOUTO DE MELO, MARCELO ROBERTO; LAMBERT DE BRITO RIBEIRO, MAURO CESAR; THADEO DE LIMA, FLAVIO CESAR. A new, narrowly distributed, and critically endangered species of Characidium (Characiformes: Crenuchidae) from the Distrito Federal, Central Brazil. Neotropical Ichthyology, v. 19, n. 1, 2021. (13/20936-0, 11/51532-7, 17/12909-4)

DE MELO, MARCELO ROBERTO SOUTO; GOMES, AMANDA ALVES; MOLLER, PETER RASK; NIELSEN, JORGEN G.. A new species of the rare deep-sea genus Sciadonus Garman, 1899 (Teleostei, Bythitidae) from off Brazil, with a discussion of the evolution of troglomorphism and miniaturization in the aphyonid clade. DEEP-SEA RESEARCH PART I-OCEANOGRAPHIC RESEARCH PAPERS, v. 180, p. 8-pg., 2022-01-11. (17/12909-4)

LIMA, F. C. T.; CAIRES, R. A.; CONDE-SALDANA, C. C.; MIRANDE, J. M.; CARVALHO, F. R.. A new miniature Pristella (Actinopterygii: Characiformes: Characidae) with reversed sexual dimorphism from the rio Tocantins and rio Sao Francisco basins, Brazil. CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY, v. 99, n. 5, p. 339-348, MAY 2021. (19/16999-3, 12/03404-2, 11/51532-7, 13/20936-0, 07/02978-7, 11/11422-8, 17/12909-4, 18/09767-6)

FLAUSINO JUNIOR, NELSON; LIMA, FLAVIO C. T.; MACHADO, FRANCISCO A.; MELO, MARCELO R. S.. A new species of Characidium Reinhardt (Characiformes: Crenuchidae) with a unique mid-water behavior from the upper rio Madeira basin, Brazil. Zootaxa, v. 4816, n. 3, p. 350-360, JUL 17 2020. (17/12909-4, 13/20936-0, 11/51532-7)