Abstract
In the deep ocean, whale falls (deceased whales that sink to the seafloor) act as a boost of productivity in this otherwise generally food-limited setting, nourishing organisms from sharks to microbes during the various stages of their decomposition. Annelid worms are habitual colonizers of whale falls, with new species regularly reported from these settings and their systematics helping to resolve biogeographic patterns among deep-sea organic fall environments. During a 2017 expedition of the Australian research vessel RV Investigator to sample bathyal to abyssal communities off Australia’s east coast, a natural whale fall was opportunistically trawled at ~1000 m depth. In this study, we provide detailed taxonomic descriptions of the annelids associated with this whale-fall community, using both morphological and molecular techniques. From this material we describe nine new species from five families (Dorvilleidae: Ophryotrocha dahlgreni sp. nov. Ophryotrocha hanneloreae sp. nov., Ophryotrocha ravarae sp. nov.; Hesionidae: Vrijenhoekia timoharai sp. nov.; Nereididae: Neanthes adriangloveri sp. nov., Neanthes visicete sp. nov.; Orbiniidae: Orbiniella jamesi sp. nov.), including two belonging to the bone-eating genus Osedax (Siboglinidae: Osedax waadjum sp. nov., Osedax byronbayensis sp. nov.) that are the first to be described from Australian waters. We further provide systematic accounts for 10 taxa within the Ampharetidae, Amphinomidae, Microphthalmidae, Nereididae, Orbiniidae, Phyllodocidae, Protodrilidae, Sphaerodoridae and Phascolosomatidae. Our investigations uncover unique occurrences and for the first time enable the evaluation of biogeographic links between Australian whale falls and others in the western Pacific as well as worldwide.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 167-213 |
| Number of pages | 47 |
| Journal | Records of the Australian Museum |
| Volume | 75 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Acknowledgements. The authors wish to thank the CSIRO Marine National Facility (MNF) for its support in the form of sea time on RV Investigator, support personnel, scientific equipment and data management. All data and samples acquired on the voyage are made publicly available in accordance with MNF Policy. We also thank all the scientific staff and crew who participated in voyage IN2017_V03. Project funding was provided by the Marine Biodiversity Hub, supported through the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program (NESP). MG is also grateful for support from a UK Natural Environment Research Council grant (NERC; number NE/R000670/1) and an Ifremer Postdoctoral Fellowship. LG is thankful for support from the Chadwick Biodiversity Fellowship from the Australian Museum. CG was funded by a grant RG18–21 from Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS). Many thanks to William Zhang and Maria Wiklund for help editing images and making plates. We are also very grateful to Emma Sherlock for accessioning material at the NHM. Melanie Mackenzie for accessioning material at MV, and Stephen Keable for accessioning material at the AM. Images of preserved whale bones were taken by Platon Vafiadis, Museums Victoria.
Funding Information:
The authors wish to thank the CSIRO Marine National Facility (MNF) for its support in the form of sea time on RV Investigator, support personnel, scientific equipment and data management. All data and samples acquired on the voyage are made publicly available in accordance with MNF Policy. We also thank all the scientific staff and crew who participated in voyage IN2017_V03. Project funding was provided by the Marine Biodiversity Hub, supported through the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program (NESP). MG is also grateful for support from a UK Natural Environment Research Council grant (NERC; number NE/R000670/1) and an Ifremer Postdoctoral Fellowship. LG is thankful for support from the Chadwick Biodiversity Fellowship from the Australian Museum. CG was funded by a grant RG18–21 from Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS). Many thanks to William Zhang and Maria Wiklund for help editing images and making plates. We are also very grateful to Emma Sherlock for accessioning material at the NHM. Melanie Mackenzie for accessioning material at MV, and Stephen Keable for accessioning material at the AM. Images of preserved whale bones were taken by Platon Vafiadis, Museums Victoria.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Georgieva, Wiklund, Ramos, Neal, Glasby, Gunton.