Addisonia enodis (Vetigastropoda: Lepetelloidea) associated with an elasmobranch egg capsule from the South Atlantic Ocean and the discovery of the species from deep waters off northeastern Brazil

Abstract

Abstract A gastropod specimen of the subfamily Addisoniinae Dall, 1882 is reported here for the first time associated with an elasmobranch egg capsule from the South Atlantic Ocean. A specimen of Addisonia enodis Simone, 1996 was found living inside an egg capsule of Atlantoraja castelnaui (Miranda Ribeiro, 1907) (Arhynchobatidae Fowler, 1934) from shallow waters off southeastern Brazil. Previous studies have reported the association of members of the genus Addisonia Dall, 1882 only with the egg capsules of sharks from the family Scyliorhinidae Gill, 1862 and skates from the family Rajidae de Blainville, 1816. Other specimens of A. enodis are also here reported to occur off northeastern Brazil based on shells found in deep waters off the state of Sergipe, which fills a gap in its distribution in the Southwestern Atlantic to the north of this region. Addisonia enodis was recognized as a synonym of A. excentrica (Tiberi, 1855). However, we consider A. enodis as a valid species until further data clarify this issue based on a large sample of Addisonia from Brazilian waters.