Morphology, reproductive biology and genetic structure of the whale-fall and hydrothermal vent specialist, Bathykurila guaymasensis Pettibone, 1989 (Annelida : Polynoidae)

• We examined the reproductive biology and genetic structure of the polychaete Bathykurila guaymasensis (Annelida: Polynoidae), a species recorded from both whale-falls and hydrothermal vents. The habitat of B. guaymasensis is quite different from other vent polynoids, being apparently a specialist feeder oil Beggiatoa mat, rather than living commensally with mussels or on the sides of hot vent chimneys. Specimens were collected from whale-fall sites in the Santa Cruz and Santa Catalina Basins, Southern California at depths of 12001600 in, and investigated using a combined morphological and molecular approach. The species exhibits marked sexual dimorphism, asynchronous gametogenesis, evidence for internal fertilization and lecithotrophic larval development - all characters shared with other hydrothermal vent polynoids. Two distinct, sympatrically distributed haplotype groups of B. guaymasensis were identified using mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene sequences, indicating that there may be two species within the nominal designation B. guaymasensis. Broad sharing of haplotypes between the two whale-fill sites suggests high dispersal rates among basins along the California margin.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

cytochrome oxidase 1

deep-sea

dispersal

internal transcribed spacer 2

polychaeta

reproduction

whale-fall

oxidase subunit-i

deep-sea-floor

eastern pacific

galapagos rift

dwarf males

polychaeta

dispersal

ecology

DNA

invertebrates

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