On the deep-sea Nephasoma species in the Eastern North Atlantic – a taxonomic guide

Abstract

Sipuncula is a relatively species-poor phylum that can play a considerable role in soft sediment benthic ecosystems. The ecological and geochemical influence of sipunculans can vary between species. However, identification of sipunculan species is often problematic. This article focuses on sipunculans collected in the Nordic Seas belonging to the genus Nephasoma, a common genus in deep-water collections. A review of Nephasoma taxonomic descriptions in eastern North Atlantic waters and a key to identifying sipunculans found in the region of deep Nordic Seas is provided.

Keywords:

• Deep sea
• Nephasoma
• North Atlantic
• Sipuncula

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 are grateful to Dr Finlo Cottier and support from the British Council through the International Network for Young Scientists. We acknowledge Norwegian Deep Water Programme (NDP) and Øyvind Fjukmoen who provided access to their deep-sea collection. We thank the officers, crew and participants of RRS James Clark Ross cruises 75 and 127, in particular, Mr Peter Lamont, Dr David Hughes and Dr Kenny Black and Dr Murray Roberts for help with sample collection and Dr Melanie Bergmann for providing access to material collected during cruises of RV Polarstern. Work carried out on the JCR 75 and 127 cruises was under the Northern Seas Programme of the Scottish Association for Marine Science, funded by the Natural Environmental Research Council (UK), and forms part of a PhD project funded by the UHI Millennium Institute. M. K e ˛ dra would like to acknowledge the Zoological Museum of the University of Copenhagen and the Museum of Natural History, in Berlin, and financial support of the European Commission's Research Infrastructure Action via the SYNTHESYS Project and project number DPN/N63/AODP/2009 of Polish Ministry of Science. We would like to thank Professor Howard Feder, Dr John Zardus and an anonymous reviewer for their constructive comments on the manuscript.

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mark A. Shields

Present address: Environmental Research Institute, North Highland College, UHI Millennium Institute, Thurso, Caithness KW14 7JD, Scotland, UK