Frenulates are the most poorly known members of the family Siboglinidae (Polychaeta: Canalipalpata). These thread-like worms occur in reducing marine sediments worldwide, but they are often overlooked in benthic samples or too poorly preserved for adequate taxonomic evaluations. We report on a remarkable diversity of frenulates that were recently sampled from 13 mud volcanoes (350-3902 m deep) in the Gulf of Ca...
Cycliophora is one of the most recently described metazoan phyla and hitherto includes only two species: Symbion pandora and Symbion americanus. With a very complex life cycle, cycliophorans are regarded as an enigmatic group with an uncertain phylogenetic position, although they are commonly considered lophotrochozoan protostomes. In order to extend the database concerning the distribution of immunoreactive su...
During the European Commission's Framework Six Programme, HERMES, we investigated three main areas along the European margin, each characterized by the presence of seep-related structures exhibiting different intensity of activity and biological diversity. These areas are: (1) the Nordic margin with the Hakon Mosby mud volcano and many pockmarks, (2) the Gulf of Cadiz, and (3) the eastern Mediterranean with its...
Bythograea laubieri, B. vrijenhoeki and alvinellid polychaetes dominate the vent fauna of the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge. We studied gonadal development in females of both crabs. They have ovary microstructures characteristic of brachyuran decapods. The ovaries are paired organs overlying the hepatopancreas beneath the carapace. Oogonia proliferate from the germinal epithelium and develop into previtellogenic oocy...
Collections of Frenulata made by the RV Professor Logachev in the Gulf of Cadiz in 2006 contain two new species, one belonging to the genus Spirobrachia, and another that was assigned to a new genus. Spirobrachia tripeira n. sp. is the first record of the genus in the North Atlantic Ocean; it has a very stiff, straight, orange tube; its tentacles have pinnules and are arranged in a spiral crown without a lophop...
The "Bathymodiolus" childressi group is the most geographically diverse assemblage of deep-sea mussel species. In this paper we consider several possible hypotheses to explain the present biogeographic distribution of the "B." childressi species complex. Mussels were collected for the first time from mud volcanoes in the Gulf of Cadiz (NE Atlantic Ocean) during the training through research (TTR) 16 research ex...
A new cumacean genus and species, Thalycrocuma sarradini gen. et sp. nov., belonging to the family Nannastacidae is described from several sites of the Lucky Strike hydrothermal vent field (Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 37N, 1700 m depth). The new genus differs from others in the family by males lacking exopods on the pereopods 3 and 4 and having an antenna with a five-articulate peduncle and a short flagellum. This is t...
Fifty-six sequences of the mitochondrial 16S RNA gene were generated for hydroids, belonging to six nominal families - Eudendriidae, Lafoeidae, Haleciidae, Sertulariidae, Plumulariidae and Aglaopheniidae - collected from bathyal environments of the Gulf of Cadiz (22 haplotypes), Greenland (1 haplotype), Azores (1 haplotype), the shallow waters of the UK (17 haplotypes) and Portugal (2 haplotypes). When combined...
The results of a survey on bryozoans and entoprocts in the Ria de Aveiro (NW Portugal) are presented. The Ria de Aveiro is a coastal lagoon hosting large port facilities and several tourist marinas, thus presenting a wide variety of submerged structures and consequently a rich fouling community. In June and July 2004, 10 stations were selected and biological samples were collected from hard substrates such as w...
A new ghost shrimp, Vulcanocalliax arutyunovi n.gen. n.sp., is described and accommodated in the new subfamily Vulcanocalliacinae. This subfamily shares with the Bathycalliacinae Sakai & Turkay, 1999 the presence of epipods on the third maxilliped and the first four pairs of pereopods, but differs by the absence of cardiac sulci and a dorsomedian carina. This is the second record of a thalassinidean crustacean ...