Echinodermata, Ophiuroidea, Gorgonocephalus Leach, 1815: first report of the genus for the Brazilian continental margin

Abstract

The Gorgonocephalidae includes 38 genera, five of them reported for Brazilian waters. Gorgonocephalus chilensis has a wide distribution throughout Antartica and Subantartican regions and its northern limit was restricted to the coast of Uruguay. This work aims to report the first occurrence of the Gorgonocephalus genus for the Brazilian continental margin and extend the northern limit of distribution of G. chilensis to the coast of Santa Catarina. Tolerance to a large temperature and bathimetric range are crucial to understand the distributions patterns of ophiuroids from the polar circle that also occur at southern South America.