Toggle Main Menu Toggle Search

Open Access padlockePrints

New species of Eurythenes from hadal depths of the Mariana Trench, Pacific Ocean (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

Lookup NU author(s): Johanna Weston, Dr Priscilla Carrillo-Barragan, Dr Thomas Linley, Dr William Reid, Dr Alan Jamieson

Downloads


Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).


Abstract

Eurythenes S. I. Smith in Scudder, 1882 are one of the largest scavenging deep-sea amphipods (max. 154 mm) and are found in every ocean across an extensive bathymetric range from the shallow polar waters to hadal depths. Recent systematic studies of the genus have illuminated a cryptic species complex and highlighted the benefits of using a combination of morphological and molecular identification approaches. In this study, we present the ninth species, Eurythenes plasticus sp. nov., which was recovered using baited traps between the depths 6010 and 6949 m in the Mariana Trench (Northwest Pacific Ocean) in 2014. This new Eurythenes species was found to have distinct morphological characteristics and be a well-supported clade based on sequence variation at two mitochondrial regions (16S rDNA and COI). While this species is new to science and lives in the remote hadal zone, it is not exempt from the impacts of anthropogenic pollution. Indeed, one individual was found to have a microplastic fibre, 83.74% similar to polyethylene terephthalate (PET), in its hindgut. As this species has a bathymetric range spanning from abyssal to hadal depths in the Central Pacific Ocean basin, it offers further insights into the biogeography of Eurythenes.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Weston JNJ, Carrillo-Barragan P, Linley TD, Reid WDK, Jamieson AJ

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Zootaxa

Year: 2020

Volume: 4748

Issue: 1

Pages: 163–181

Print publication date: 05/03/2020

Acceptance date: 20/02/2020

Date deposited: 25/03/2020

ISSN (print): 1175-5326

ISSN (electronic): 1175-5334

Publisher: Magnolia Press

URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4748.1.9

DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4748.1.9


Altmetrics

Altmetrics provided by Altmetric


Funding

Funder referenceFunder name
ENG2954Marine Management Organisation (MMO)
Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland
OCE #1130712
Schmidt Ocean Institute

Share