Exitomelita sigynae gen. et sp. nov.: a new amphipod from the Arctic Loki Castle vent field with potential gill ectosymbionts
Tandberg, Anne Helene; Rapp, Hans Tore; Schander, Christoffer; Vader, Wim; Sweetman, Andrew K.; Berge, Jørgen
Journal article, Peer reviewed
Date
2011-11-02Metadata
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Original version
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00300-011-1115-xAbstract
The newly discovered deep-sea hydrothermal
vent field ‘‘Loki’s Castle’’ at 2,350 m depth at 70 N on the
Knipovich Ridge north of the island Jan Mayen is the only
known black smoker field from the Arctic Ridge system.
This vent field holds a unique fauna clearly distinct from
vent sites along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge south of Iceland. In
addition to numerous maldanid and ampharetid polychaetes
one animal of particular interest at this vent site, is a
new genus and species of melitid amphipod. This new
species is found in cracks and crevices on vent chimneys as
well as in areas where diffuse venting is common such as
the base of vent chimneys. Here, we present a formal
morphological description of this new melitid species and
hypothesize about the main form of its nutrition using
stable isotope and molecular data.