Marine biologists at the University of California, San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Ensenada Higher Education and Research Center have described a rare new species of deep-sea insect with gills discovered in a methane well off San Diego’s Pacific coast. Named pectine rice triclotti, the new species has an elongated body flanked by rows of feathery, gill-tipped appendages called lateral legs.
pectine rice triclotti belong to Nereididae, a segmented, mostly marine family of insects with over 700 recognized species.
Commonly known as lugworms, these organisms are generally found in coastal areas and are usually limited to shallow marine habitats, but can also be found in brackish waters, freshwater bodies, and even moist terrestrial environments.
However, around 10% of the total diversity of lugworms is known to inhabit deep-sea environments.
These nematodes have a long body with rows of bristly parapods on the sides and a set of scissor-like jaws for feeding.
Many lugworm species undergo two distinct life stages: atokes and epitokes.
Pectine rice triclotti was first discovered during a dive in 2009 at a depth of approximately 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) using the submersible Alvin.
“We observed two lugworms swimming close to each other, about the length of a submarine, near the ocean floor,” said Bruce Stricklot, a researcher at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Several specimens of pectine rice triclotti were collected and analyzed for anatomical features and DNA to determine their evolutionary relationships within the Nereididae family.
According to Dr. Greg Rouse, a marine biologist at the University of California, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Pectine rice triclotti has unique characteristics compared to other lugworms.
Pectine rice triclotti, while possessing menacing-looking jaws, has unknown feeding habits, with the possibility of feeding on bacteria and other large food particles similar to other insects.
The body color of pectine rice triclotti in its natural habitat is likely rosy due to the darkness at 1,000 meters below the surface.
Further research is needed to explore the reproductive mechanisms and feeding behavior of this newly discovered deep-sea species.
The finding is detailed in the article: paper published in the online journal PLoS ONE.
_____
TF Villalobos Guerrero et al. 2024. A remarkable new species of deep-sea Nereidae (Annelidae: Nereidiidae) with gills. PLoS ONE 19(3): e0297961; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297961
Source: www.sci.news
