Deep-sea wood-boring bivalves (Xylophagaidae) from southeast Australia, with a new species described

ABSTRACT

Recent advances in sampling capabilities have enabled some of the first large-scale bathyal and abyssal surveys in Australian waters, allowing new insights into the deep-sea invertebrate fauna of the region. Here we describe Abditoconus investigatoris n. sp., the first xylophagaid described from Australia in 60 years. Abitoconus investigatoris is characterised by a siphon with distinct proximal and distal portions, with a prominent wrinkled ventral band on the proximal portion. This species was also observed with epizoic ciliates (fam. Vorticellidae), the first known association of ciliates and xylophagaids.

KEYWORDS:

• Abditoconus
• Xylophaga
• Spiniapex
• abyss
• wood fall

Acknowledgements

We thank all those who facilitated the successful RV Investigator voyage IN2017_V03, including expedition lead Tim O’Hara, scientific team members, CSIRO Marine National Facility staff and crew and Museum collections managers Kirrily Moore (TMAG), Martin Pryzdia (FMNH) and Melanie Mackenzie (NMV) for facilitating specimen loans. Franzis Althaus aided with map data visualisation. We are grateful to Editor Bruce Marshall and two anonymous reviewers for improving this manuscript. Material was collected under the following permits: (1) Access to Biological Resources in a Commonwealth Area for Non-Commercial Purposes, AU-COM2017-352; (2) Approval for Activity in a Commonwealth Marine Reserve, CMR-17-000455; (3) Australian Fisheries Management Authority Scientific Permit, 100339+3; (4) Queensland Government General Fisheries Permit, 191670; (5) Museums Victoria Animal Ethics Committee approval, MV AEC 17001.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).