Abstract
We report the first records of the sponge genus Geodia (Demospongiae, Tetractinellida, Geodiidae) from the New England Seamounts and Muir Seamount, at lower bathyal depths. Nine specimens collected between 2000 and 2005 belong to two boreal species (Geodia macandrewii and Geodia barretti) and a temperate species (Geodia megastrella). These records extend the distributions of these deep-sea amphi-Atlantic species to the west. Most of these specimens were originally fixed in formalin, which substantially degraded the DNA. We nonetheless managed to sequence two cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) mini-barcodes: the universal mini-barcode at the 5′ end of the Folmer barcode (130 bp) and a newly proposed mini-barcode at the 3′ end of the Folmer barcode (296 bp). These mini-barcodes unambiguously confirmed our identifications. As an additional test, we also successfully sequenced these two mini-barcodes from the holotype of G. barretti, collected in 1855. We conclude by advocating the use of mini-barcodes on formalin-fixed or old specimens with degraded DNA.
Highlights
The New England Seamounts (NES) are a 1,200-km-long chain of ~35 major volcanic peaks in the Northwest Atlantic, with elevations ranging from 400 to 4,000 m (Fig. 1)
The modeling of the distribution of boreo-arctic Geodia species by Howell et al (2016) failed to predict the presence of boreal Geodia in the NES, which is probably an indication of the knowledge gaps pertaining to the distribution of deep-sea sponges
Aggregations of different Geodia species are present (Fig. 2b, c) but their extent and density has not been measured. This small collection suggests that the NES and Muir Seamount Geodia fauna include both boreal (G. barretti and G. macandrewii) and temperate species (G. megastrella)
Summary
The New England Seamounts (NES) are a 1,200-km-long chain of ~35 major volcanic peaks in the Northwest Atlantic, with elevations ranging from 400 to 4,000 m (Fig. 1). They extend from Georges Bank within the US Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) to the eastern end of the Bermuda Rise. The fauna of the NES remained largely ignored until a series of Census of Seamounts (CENSEAM) campaigns in 2000–2005, part of the Census of Marine Life, began to collect and identify the fish and some invertebrates (Moore et al 2003b, 2004) These campaigns clearly confirmed with video analysis that
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