Abstract
Two new species of the thyasirid genus Spinaxinus (S. emicatus Oliver n. sp. and S. phrixicus Oliver n. sp.) are described from the Gulf of Mexico and the southwest Pacific, respectively. Both are compared with the type species of the genus, the eastern Atlantic S. sentosus Oliver and Holmes, 2006. Living specimens from the Gulf of Mexico were retrieved from artificial sulfide bio-generators on the upper Louisiana Slope. Gill morphology and molecular markers from the symbiotic bacteria confirm that Spinaxinus is chemosynthetic and that the chemoautotrophic bacteria are related to sulfide oxidizing Gammaproteobacteria. Living specimens from the southwest Pacific were retrieved from hydrothermal vent sites in the Fiji and Lau Back Arc Basins. In the Atlantic Spinaxinus is now recorded from two anthropogenic situations and appears to be generally absent from natural cold seep sites and not yet recorded at any hydrothermal sites. The primarily anthropogenic distribution of Spinaxinus in the Atlantic is discussed with reference to the natural hydrothermal vent habitat of the Pacific S. phrixicus .
Highlights
The genus Spinaxinus was erected from specimens collected from the wreck of a cargo vessel that sunk off the Atlantic coast of Spain in 1979 and lay at 1160 m
The thyasirids collected were described as Spinaxinus sentosus Oliver and Holmes, 2006 and were inferred to be chemosymbiotic from the substrate and associated fauna (Oliver and Holmes 2006)
The state of preservation was not sufficient to carry out an electron microscopy study or for molecular analysis. To date this genus has only been found in this artificial environment except for a single juvenile shell taken from a mud volcano in the Gulf of Cadiz (Oliver et al 2011)
Summary
The genus Spinaxinus was erected from specimens collected from the wreck of a cargo vessel that sunk off the Atlantic coast of Spain in 1979 and lay at 1160 m. The thyasirids collected were described as Spinaxinus sentosus Oliver and Holmes, 2006 and were inferred to be chemosymbiotic from the substrate and associated fauna (Oliver and Holmes 2006). The associated fauna included the vestimentiferan, Lamellibrachia barhami Webb, 1969 and the mussel Idasola (Dando et al 1992). The state of preservation was not sufficient to carry out an electron microscopy study or for molecular analysis. To date this genus has only been found in this artificial environment except for a single juvenile shell taken from a mud volcano in the Gulf of Cadiz (Oliver et al 2011)
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