New records of Serpulidae (Annelida, Polychaeta) collected by R/V "Vityaz" from bathyal and abyssal depths of the Pacific Ocean

Abstract

The diversity of bathyal and abyssal marine organisms is still poorly known and this is especially true for tubicolous polychaetes of the family Serpulidae, the common inhabitants of subtidal and shelf locations. We report herein new records of poorly known deep-sea (mostly below 2000 m) serpulids collected in the Pacific Ocean by early Soviet Oceanographic expeditions onboard R/V “Vityaz”. The following species were found: Bathyditrupa hovei, Bathyvermilia challengeri, B eliasoni, B. zibrowiusi, Filogranula stellata, Hyalopomatus jirkovi, and H. sikorski at the depths of 1600–6330 m. Many samples collected by R/V “Vityaz” and other Russian research vessels are still unstudied and apparently many bathyal and abyssal serpulid species new to science remain undescribed. The diversity of abyssal marine organisms remains poorly known not only because of the obvious logistical difficulties in collecting at abyssal localities, but also in part due to the lack of taxonomic effort directed towards existing research collections.