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Issue: Vol. 4450 No. 5: 27 Jul. 2018
Type: Article
Published: 2018-07-27
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4450.5.4
Page range: 575–580
Abstract views: 79
PDF downloaded: 2

New annelid species from the deepest known whale-fall environment: Bathykermadeca thanatos sp. nov. (Annelida: Polynoidae)

Department of Natural History Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, N10 W8, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan
Department of Marine Biodiversity Research, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan
Department of Natural History Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, N10 W8, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan
Annelida Deep sea Japan Macellicephalinae Polychaeta taxonomy

Abstract

A new species of polynoid annelids, Bathykermadeca thanatos sp. nov., is described based on specimens collected from sunken whale bones in the Nansei-Shoto Trench in the Philippine Sea at a depth of 4974 m. The cetacean-carcass community at the site exceeds the deepest record reported to date. This new species can be distinguished from other members of the genus by the following features: i) there is only one type of neurochaetae, ii) the teeth lack serration and grow inwardly, iii) median antenna extends beyond the tip of frontal filament, iv) nephridial papillae are present in segments 12–15, and v) there are about 50 notochaetae in each parapodium.

 

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