First record of basket stars Astrocyclus caecilia (Lütken, 1856) and Astrophyton muricatum (Lamarck, 1816) (Echinodermata, Ophiuroidea, Euryalida) for the state of Rio Grande do Norte, northeastern Brazil

Abstract

This paper reports the first record of Astrocyclus caecilia for northeastern Brazil and Astrophyton muricatum for the state of Rio Grande do Norte. The studied specimens were captured accidentally by a fisherman using a fishing rod at a depth below 100 m over the continental shelf of the state of Rio Grande do Norte. Such accidental captures stress our meager knowledge on our fauna from the outer margin of the continental shelf in northeastern Brazil. With these records we fill a gap in the known distribution of those species.