Queirós, José Pedro; Ravara, Ascensão; Eilertsen, Mari H.; Kongsrud, Jon A.; Hilário, Ana. (2017). Paramytha ossicola sp. nov. (Polychaeta, Ampharetidae) from mammal bones: Reproductive biology and population structure. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography. 137: 349-358.

240350

10.1016/j.dsr2.2016.08.017 [view]

Queirós, José Pedro; Ravara, Ascensão; Eilertsen, Mari H.; Kongsrud, Jon A.; Hilário, Ana

2017

137: 349-358

Publication

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967064516302570

World Polychaeta Database (WPolyDb)

Sunken whale carcasses, known as “whale falls”, deliver large, but relatively ephemeral pulses of organic material to the seafloor and serve as habitat for unique assemblages of deep-sea fauna that include generalist-scavenging species, chemosynthetic fauna and bone-specialist species. Despite the great deal of interest that fauna associated with whale falls have attracted, very little is known about this fauna in the deep Atlantic Ocean. Here we describe a new species of Ampharetidae that was found in an experiment using cow carcasses in the Setúbal Canyon (NE Atlantic), as a surrogate of a whale fall. Further, we analyse the size and structure of the population at two different times and use histological analyses to investigate the reproductive biology of this new species. We propose that Paramytha ossicola sp. nov. is a bone-specialist adapted for life in ephemeral habitats. Reproductive traits include rapid maturation, continuous and non-synchronous gametogenesis. Recruitment seems to be controlled by habitat availability and biological interactions that result in post-settlement mortality.

Eastern Atlantic

Life history

Annelida
Polychaeta

RIS (EndNote, Reference Manager, ProCite, RefWorks)
BibTex (BibDesk, LaTeX)

[Back to search]