Annelids of the eastern Australian abyss collected by the 2017 RV ‘Investigator’ voyage

By

Gunton, Laetitia
Kupriyanova, Elena K
Alvestad, Tom
Avery, Lynda
Blake, James A.
Biriukova, Olga
Böggemann, Markus
Borisova, Polina
Budaeva, Natalii︠a︡
Burghardt, Ingo
Capa, Maria
Georgieva, Maggie
Glasby, Christopher John
Hsueh, Pan-Wen
Hutchings, P. A. (Patricia Ann), 1946-
Jimi, Naoto
Kongsrud, Jon Anders
Langeneck, Joachim
Meißner, Karin
Murray, Anna (Annelidologist)
Nikolic, Mark
Paxton, Hannelore
Ramos, Dino
Schulze, Anja
Sobczyk, Robert
Watson, Charlotte
Wiklund, Helena
Wilson, R. S. (Robin S.)
Zhadan, Anna
Zhang, Jinghuai

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2021

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1020

Pages

1--198

Subjects

Biodiversity , Biogeography , deep sea , Echiura , lower-bathyal , marine parks , Polychaeta , Sipuncula , Tasman Sea

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1020.57921

 

Abstract

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.