Researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have described and named four new species of scale worms from deep-sea habitats in the eastern Pacific Ocean. These deep-sea worms are known for their iridescent overlapping scales and have had the nickname “Elvis worms” for many years.
研究人员在蒙特雷湾水族馆研究所,施密特海洋研究所和伍兹霍尔海洋学机构的船舶上工作,研究人员收集了东太平洋沿岸的蠕虫,包括蒙特雷峡谷的深区,墨西哥湾的深处和哥斯达黎加。这些新的规模蠕虫都在深海中发现,并通过在其尺度下具有精心制作的ill来耐受低氧水平的发展。
它们通常在鲸鱼瀑布和其他有机遗体附近发现,尽管其中一种是在加利福尼亚湾的一个热液通风口发现的。这些发现发表在《科学杂志》上ZooKeys5月12日。
最大的规模蠕虫是多核科,新物种的属是Peinaleopolynoe. The first part of the genus name is from the Greek ???????o? (peinaleos), meaning hungry or famished, since the first species was found on an experimental food fall deployed in the deep Atlantic.
蠕虫都被观察到活着,并通过远程操作的车辆和潜水Alvin在深度收集。研究人员记录了其中一个新物种成员之间的互动P. Orphanaein their natural habitat.
“几年来,这是一个谜,为什么P. Orphanaespecimens were often drastically damaged, and we reasoned that it may have occurred during the collection process,” said Avery Hatch, a PhD student at Scripps and lead author of the study. “Now that we have observed the entertaining in situ fighting behavior ofP. Orphanae, we understand that these animals are actually biting off chunks of one another’s scales.”
Hatch led the research that named and formally described the four newPeinaleopolynoespecies,P. Orphanae,P。Mineoi,P。Elvisi, 和P. goffrediae.Peinaleopolynoemineoi以Scripps海洋学委员会成员Chrysa Mineo的父亲的名字命名,以表彰Mineo家族的支持。P. elvisi以摇滚乐国王猫王埃尔维斯·普雷斯利(Elvis Presley)的名字命名,因为虹彩的金色/粉红色鳞片让人联想到他在后期职业生涯中偏爱的闪闪发光的亮片服装。其余两个以科学家维多利亚孤儿的名字命名,维多利亚孤儿是地球生物学专家和她的妻子Shana Goffredi,他专门研究动物/微生物共生。
“Shana and Victoria are long-term collaborators and we are honored to be able to name two such spectacular new species for them in recognition of their great contributions to science,” said Greg Rouse, a Scripps marine biologist and Hatch’s mentor, who has named many new species of worms.
“There are so many beautiful, fascinating, and important deep-sea worms on this planet,” said Goffredi. “I feel so honored to have one as my namesake, especially one from Monterey Canyon, where I spent much of my career as a scientist.”
While these worms share many anatomical features, there were very subtle morphological differences among the new species. However, DNA sequencing and analyses clearly indicate they are distinctly different species.
“很难相信深海仍largely unexplored and teeming with mysterious animals waiting to be discovered,” said Hatch.[Scripps]