Holothurians (Holothuroidea, Echinodermata) of the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge collected by the G.O. Sars MAR-ECO expedition with descriptions of four new species

Abstract

The material collected by the G.O. Sars MAR-ECO expedition to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge included 36 species of holothurians. Most belong to the order Elasipodida and the family Synallactidae (Aspidochirotida). Four species in the families Elpidiidae and Psychropotidae (Elasipodida) are new to science. Descriptions of Benthodytes gosarsi sp. nov., Penilpidia midatlantica sp. nov., Peniagone longipapillata sp. nov. and Peniagone marecoi sp. nov. are provided, along with the full list of identified species. Some descriptions are supplemented by observations in situ from dives of the Mir submersibles.

Keywords:

• Elpidiidae
• holothurians
• Mid-Atlantic Ridge
• new species
• north Atlantic
• observations in situ

Published in collaboration with the University of Bergen and the Institute of Marine Research, Norway, and the Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Published in collaboration with the University of Bergen and the Institute of Marine Research, Norway, and the Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Acknowledgements

The author thanks the officers and the crews of the RV G.O. Sars and the RV Akademik Mstislav Keldysh for their help at sea. Thanks are due also to the pilots of ROVs Bathysaurus and Aglantha and submersibles Mir-1 and Mir-2. Help from Jon Kongsrud and Endre Willassen during a stay in the Museum of Zoology, Bergen is very much appreciated. The author is grateful to Alan Southward for the correction of English style. Special thanks to David Billett and Antonina Rogacheva for comments on the species of Kolga in the North Atlantic. Thanks are due also to David Billett and an anonymous referee for improving the manuscript. This work was an element of MAR-ECO, a field project under the Census of Marine Life programme.

Notes

Published in collaboration with the University of Bergen and the Institute of Marine Research, Norway, and the Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Denmark