Abstract
Deep-sea fishing bycatch enables collection of samples of rare species that are not easily accessible, for research purposes. However, these specimens are often degraded, losing diagnostic morphological characteristics. Several tubes of vestimentiferans, conspicuous annelids endemic to chemosynthetic environments, were obtained from a single batch of deep-sea fishing bycatch at depths of around 1,500 m off Huasco, northern Chile, as part of an ongoing study examining bycatch species. DNA sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene and an intron region within the hemoglobin subunit B2 (hbB2i) were successfully determined using vestimentiferans’ dried-up tubes and their degraded inner tissue. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on DNA sequence identified the samples as Escarpia spicata Jones, 1985, and Lamellibrachia barhami Webb, 1969. These are the southernmost records, vastly extending the geographical ranges of both species from Santa Catalina Island, California to northern Chile for E. spicata (over 8,000 km), and from Vancouver Island Margin to northern Chile for L. barhami (over 10,000 km). We also determined a 16S rRNA sequence of symbiotic bacteria of L. barhami. The sequence of the bacteria is the same as that of E. laminata, Lamellibrachia sp. 1, and Lamellibrachia sp.2 known from the Gulf of Mexico. The present study provides sound evidence forthe presence of reducing environments along the continental margin of northern Chile.
Highlights
Deep-sea fishing bycatch provides a glimpse into the species co-occurring with commercial fishes and often comprises a way of recording rare species that are not accessible for research
As part of an ongoing project investigating the bycatch of deep-sea fishing in northern Chile [25,26,27,28,29,30,31],the present study reports two species of vestimentiferans, identified to the species level through molecular phylogenetic analyses based on DNA sequences determined using dried-up tubes and tissue
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the DNA extracted from vestimentiferan tissue and tubes
Summary
Deep-sea fishing bycatch provides a glimpse into the species co-occurring with commercial fishes and often comprises a way of recording rare species that are not accessible for research. Bycatch is seldom reported, kept, or landed due to a lack of commercial. Chilean vestimentiferan species identified using DNA obtained from dried tubes interest, administrative restrictions, and for other socio-economic reasons [1]. In addition to the inconsistent and fragmented nature of these records, examining such organisms is often hampered by their degradation before they reach researchers. The only available remains of deep-sea fishing bycatch are carapaces or shells, or, in the case of vestimentiferan tubeworms, their hardened chitin-protein tubes. Identification of vestimentiferans to species level is impeded by the absence of diagnostic soft parts
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