A new species of bone-eating annelid,
Osedax braziliensis sp. n., found in a sunken whale carcass at a depth of 4,204 m at the base of the São Paulo Ridge in the South Atlantic Ocean off the Brazilian coast is described. The organism was retrieved using the human-occupied vehicle
Shinkai 6500 during the QUELLE 2013 expedition. This is the 26
th species of the genus and the first discovery from the South Atlantic Ocean, representing the deepest record of
Osedax worldwide to date. This species morphologically resembles
Osedax frankpressi but is distinguished by the presence of a yellow bump or patch behind the prostomium and its trunk length. Molecular phylogenetic analysis using three genetic markers (
COI,
16S, and
18S) showed that
O. braziliensis sp. n. is distinct from all other
Osedax worms reported and is a sister species of
O. frankpressi.