Polynoid polychaetes of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and a new holothurian association

Abstract

Presented here is a new deep-sea association between the polynoid, Eunoe bathydomus (Ditlevsen, 1917) and the holothurian Deima validum validum Théel, 1879 from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, North Atlantic. For the first time in the deep-sea two polynoid specimens have been found on a single holothurian host. Genetic data in this study show that E. bathydomus has a distribution ranging across the Mid-Atlantic Ridge over a distance of 72 km, which could have been facilitated by hitchhiking on holothurians, although the main ecological benefits for being associated with a host remain unclear. Additional taxonomic records of polynoid species recovered during remotely operated vehicle Isis sampling during the RRS James Cook cruise JC48 in summer of 2010 are also presented.

Keywords:

• Mid-Atlantic Ridge
• polychaete
• polynoid
• holothurian
• deep sea
• benthic ecology

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

We thank the officers, crew and participants of RRS James Cook cruise JC48, in particular everyone who helped with sample collection and processing at sea. We would like to thank the reviewers for their constructive comments. We are grateful for the expertise and technical support provided by the ROV Isis team of the National Marine Facilities, UK; Claudia Alt for all her assistance and lending us the holothurian specimen, Deima validum validum; Dr Andrey Gebruk and Antonina Rogachaeva for identifying the holothurian specimen; David Shale for providing the photograph in Figure 2(c). This work was carried out under the ECOMAR: Ecosystems of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at the sub-polar front and Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone, funded by the Natural Environmental Research Council (UK).

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