Four species of chirostyloid squat lobsters, including a new species and a range extension are reported herein from California. Uroptychus nicoleae sp.nov.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The deep-sea biome (> 200 m depth) is the world's last great wilderness, covering more than 65% of the earth's surface. Due to rapid technological advances, deep-sea environments are becoming more accessible to scientific research and ocean exploration around the world and, in recent years, this is also true for the Galapagos Islands. Deep-sea habitats cover the largest proportion of Galapagos Marine Reserve (GMR), yet to date, no comprehensive baseline exists on the biodiversity of the benthic fauna associated with volcanic seafloor formations within this region.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe deep sea represents the largest and least explored biome on the planet. Despite the iconic status of the Galapagos Islands and being considered one of the most pristine locations on earth, the deep-sea benthic ecosystems of the archipelago are virtually unexplored in comparison to their shallow-water counterparts. In 2015, we embarked on a multi-disciplinary scientific expedition to conduct the first systematic characterization of deep-sea benthic invertebrate communities of the Galapagos, across a range of habitats.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSeven species of chirostyloidean squat lobsters are reported from the Galapagos Rift zone and Galapagos platform: Eumunida subsolanus n. sp. (Eumunididae), Heteroptychus galapagos n.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF(Actiniaria: Diadumenidae) is a prolific invader of coastal environments around the world. First described from Asia, this sea anemone has only been reported once from the western Gulf of Mexico at Port Aransas, Texas. No subsequent sampling has located this species at this locality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There is growing interest in mining polymetallic nodules from the abyssal Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Despite having been the focus of environmental studies for decades, the benthic megafauna of the CCZ remain poorly known. To predict and manage the environmental impacts of mining in the CCZ, baseline knowledge of the megafauna is essential.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEight species of squat lobsters of the genus Uroptychus are reported from the western Atlantic based on the collections of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard, the Smithsonian Institution and Texas A&M University. Uroptychus nitidus (A. Milne-Edwards, 1880) is reviewed and redescribed, with a syntype taken at Blake Station 200 off Martinique designated as the lectotype.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA new species of squat lobster, Uroptychus atlanticus, is described on the basis of a female specimen taken at a depth of 713-841 m in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico. The new species is readily distinguished from all known species of the genus from the western Atlantic by the very spinose carapace and pereopods, and a transverse row of spines on each of the abdominal tergites 1 and 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe stalked barnacle Oxynaspisgracilis, the chirostylid squat lobster Uroptychus sp., and the caridean shrimps Periclimenescf.antipathophilus and Pseudopontonidesprincipis have been collected at 68-124 m by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) on banks in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWilliam Stimpson (1860) established Mimulus (Brachyura: Majoidea: Epialtidae), with a single species, Mfoliatus. Rathbun (1894) placed the genus in synonymy with Pugettia Dana, 18951, but subsequent authors have considered Mimulus to be a valid genus. Genetic evidence and re-examination of the morphology indicate that M.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA deep-sea trawl survey of the Northern Gulf of Mexico has documented the abundance and diversity of human-generated litter and natural detrital plant material, from the outer margin of the continental shelf out to the Sigsbee abyssal plain. Plastics were the most frequently encountered type of material. Litter and debris were encountered more frequently in the eastern than in the western GoM.
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