RESUMEN
This is a contribution in a series of taxonomic publications on benthic fauna of polymetallic nodule fields in the eastern abyssal Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ). The material was collected during environmental surveys targeting exploration contract areas 'UK-1', 'OMS' and 'NORI-D', as well as an Area of Particular Environmental Interest, 'APEI-6'. The annelid families Amphinomidae and Euphrosinidae are investigated here. Taxonomic data are presented for six species from 41 CCZ-collected specimens as identified by a combination of morphological and genetic approaches; of the six species, three are here described as new, one species is likely to be new but in too poor condition to be formalised and the two others likely belong to known species. Description of three new species Euphrosinellageorgievae sp. nov., Euphrosinopsisahearni sp. nov., and Euphrosinopsishalli sp. nov. increases the number of formally described new annelid species from the targeted areas to 21 and CCZ-wide to 52. Molecular data suggest that four of the species reported here are known from CCZ only, but within CCZ they have a wide distribution. In contrast, the species identified as Bathychloeiacf.sibogae Horst, 1910 was found to have a wide distribution within the Pacific based on both morphological and molecular data, using comparative material from the abyssal South Pacific. Bathychloeiacf.balloniformis Böggemann, 2009 was found to be restricted to APEI-6 based on DNA data available from CCZ specimens only, but morphological data from other locations suggest potentially a wide abyssal distribution. The genus Euphrosinopsis was previously known only from Antarctic waters, and Euphrosinellageorgievae sp. nov. was recovered as a sister taxon to the Antarctic specimens of Euphrosinellacf.cirratoformis in our molecular phylogenetic analysis, strengthening the hypothesised link between the deep-sea and Antarctic benthic fauna.
RESUMEN
In Australia, the deep-water (bathyal and abyssal) benthic invertebrate fauna is poorly known in comparison with that of shallow (subtidal and shelf) habitats. Benthic fauna from the deep eastern Australian margin was sampled systematically for the first time during 2017 RV 'Investigator' voyage 'Sampling the Abyss'. Box core, Brenke sledge, and beam trawl samples were collected at one-degree intervals from Tasmania, 42°S, to southern Queensland, 24°S, from 900 to 4800 m depth. Annelids collected were identified by taxonomic experts on individual families around the world. A complete list of all identified species is presented, accompanied with brief morphological diagnoses, taxonomic remarks, and colour images. A total of more than 6000 annelid specimens consisting of 50 families (47 Polychaeta, one Echiura, two Sipuncula) and 214 species were recovered. Twenty-seven species were given valid names, 45 were assigned the qualifier cf., 87 the qualifier sp., and 55 species were considered new to science. Geographical ranges of 16 morphospecies extended along the eastern Australian margin to the Great Australian Bight, South Australia; however, these ranges need to be confirmed with genetic data. This work providing critical baseline biodiversity data on an important group of benthic invertebrates from a virtually unknown region of the world's ocean will act as a springboard for future taxonomic and biogeographic studies in the area.
RESUMEN
A new species of the Marphysa sanguinea group, M. iloiloensis n. sp. (Annelida: Eunicida: Eunicidae), is described from the Marine Annelids Hatchery of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC- AQD), Iloilo Province, Philippines. It represents the first record of this group in the Philippines. The new species is most similar morphologically to M. hongkongensa Wang, Zhang Qiu, 2018, but can be distinguished from it by having fewer branchial filaments, a pair of faint eyes (absent in M. hongkongensa), and in slight differences in jaw morphology and chaetation. The embryos of the new species develop inside a jelly cocoon attached to the entrance of the adult burrow; this is the first time that egg-containing cocoons have been found in any species of the sanguinea-group. Phylogenetic analysis based on the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) revealed that Marphysa iloiloensis n. sp. is genetically distinct from all other analysed Marphysa species and forms a sister group to M. hongkongensa. A revised identification key to members of the sanguinea-group in Southeast Asia is provided.
