Abstract
Brachiopods form a small but significant component of the deep-sea benthos in all oceans. Almost half of the 40 brachiopod species so far described from depths greater than 2000 m are small, short-looped terebratulides assigned to two superfamilies, Terebratuloidea and Cancellothyridoidea. In this study we describe Melvicalathis, a new genus of cancellothyridoid brachiopod (Family Chlidonophoridae; Subfamily Eucalathinae) from ocean ridge localities in the south and southeast Pacific Ocean, and cryptic habitats within lava caves in glassy basalt dredged from the Southeast Indian Ridge, Indian Ocean. These small, punctate, strongly-ribbed, highly spiculate brachiopods occur at depths between 2009 m and 4900 m, and appear to be primary colonisers on the inhospitable volcanic rock substrate. The ecology and life-history of Melvicalathis and related deep-sea brachiopods are discussed. Brachiopods are rarely reported from the much-studied but localised hydrothermal vent faunas of the mid ocean ridge systems. They are, however, widespread members of a poorly known deep-sea benthos of attached, suspension-feeding epibionts that live along the rarely sampled basalt substrates associated with mid-ocean ridge systems. We suggest that these basalt rocks of the mid-ocean ridge system act as deep-sea “superhighways” for certain groups of deep-sea animals, including brachiopods, along which they may migrate and disperse. Although the mid-ocean ridges form the most extensive, continuous, essentially uniform habitat on Earth, their biogeographic significance may not have been fully appreciated.
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