A new species of Melinnopsis (Annelida, Melinnidae) from the Porcupine Abyssal Plain, northeast Atlantic
Gunton, L.M.; Serpell-Stevens, A.; Riaz, K.; Horton, T. (2025). A new species of Melinnopsis (Annelida, Melinnidae) from the Porcupine Abyssal Plain, northeast Atlantic. ZooKeys 1265: 1-23. https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1265.171206
In: ZooKeys. Pensoft: Sofia. ISSN 1313-2989; e-ISSN 1313-2970, more
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| Keywords |
Classification > Taxonomy
Deep sea
Phylogenetics
Melinnopsis nathanieli Gunton, Serpell-Stevens, Riaz & Horton, 2025 [WoRMS]
Atlantic Ocean [Marine Regions]
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| Author keywords |
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| Authors | | Top |
- Gunton, L.M.
- Serpell-Stevens, A.
- Riaz, K.
- Horton, T., more
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| Abstract |
A new species of polychaete worm, Melinnopsis nathanieli sp. nov. (Annelida,
Melinnidae), is described from the Porcupine Abyssal Plain in the northeast Atlantic at
~4850 m depth. Forty-two specimens were collected during RRS James Cook cruises
JC247 and JC263 in 2023 and 2024 respectively. The new species is morphologically
similar to Melinnopsis gardelli and Melinnopsis chadwicki, described from deep Austra-
lian waters, but differs from these species in having fewer (~ 16) abdominal uncini in a
row compared with 30 in both M. gardelli and M. chadwicki. Phylogenetic relationships
among the new species and other species in the family Melinnidae were assessed using
the nuclear 18S, and the mitochondrial 16S and cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene
fragments. The new species is genetically distinct from all other species of Melinnopsis,
where molecular data is available, and genetically most similar to M. gardelli (pairwise
distance 3.5%). Tubes of M. nathanieli sp. nov. were observed to act as a biogenic sub-
strate for Actiniaria and Ascidiacea. Seafloor images of Melinnopsis nathanieli sp. inc.
at the Porcupine Abyssal Plain show the worm’s tube positioned perpendicular to the
sediment surface, and the long buccal tentacle protruding from the tube. A table con-
taining key characters of all known Melinnopsis species is presented. This is the first
species of Melinnopsis to be described from the northeast Atlantic. |
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