Lamellibrachia anaximandrin. sp., a new vestimentiferan tubeworm (Annelida) from the Mediterranean, with notes on frenulate tubeworms from the same habitat

Abstract

A new species of lamellibrachiid vestimentiferan, Lamellibrachia anaximandri n. sp., has been found in the Eastern Mediterranean, close to cold seeps of fl uid carrying dissolved methane and sources of sulfi de in superfi cial sediments. It occurs at about 1100 to 2100 m depth, on some of the mud volcanoes on the Anaximander Mountains, south of Turkey, on the Mediterranean Ridge, south of Crete, and on the Nile deep-sea fan. In addition, it has been obtained from rotting paper inside a sunken ship, torpedoed in 1915 and lying at 2800 m depth, southeast of Crete. Some frenulate pogonophores also occur on the mud volcanoes (including a species of Siboglinum resembling S. carpinei and tubes of other unidentifi ed genera). Th e new Lamellibrachia is the fi rst vestimentiferan species to be described from the Mediterranean. It diff ers from L. luymesi taken from the Gulf of Mexico population in the very weak development of collars on its tube and in having a smaller number of pairs of branchial lamellae in the branchial plume. Sequencing of the COI and the mt16S genes confi rms a diff erence at the species level between the new species and L. luymesi, and a

Seep communities from two mud volcanoes in the deep eastern Mediterranean Sea: faunal composition, spatial patterns and environmental control

“…In fact, Lamellibrachia anaximandri appears to tolerate higher fluid fluxes than Siboglinum sp. However, Southward et al (2011) observed co-occurrence at both MVs. This may suggest that the environmental conditions of our sampling sites may be more contrasted than those sampled previously by Southward et al (2011).…”

“…Furthermore, the presence of L. anaximandri corroborates the hypothesis of the sulphide production within sediments to sustain its symbionts. This species is ubiquitous in Mediterranean seeps and relies on sulphides for its survival (Olu-Le Roy et al 2004, Southward et al 2011.…”

“…These communities are dominated by small bivalves from 2 families (Mytilidae and Vesicomyidae) common to cold-seep environments (Duperron et al 2009, Krylova & Sahling 2010, Oliver et al 2011 and 2 others (Lucinidae and Thyasiridae) known from shallower sulphide-rich habitats including seeps (Dando & Southward 1986, Cary et al 1989a, Olu-Le Roy et al 2004, Brissac et al 2011. Siboglinid polychaetes belonging to the clades Obturata (Lamellibrachia anaximandri, Southward et al 2011) and Frenulata (Siboglinum sp.) as well as heterotrophic mega-and macro-faunal species have also been observed.…”

The Gela Basin pockmark field in the strait of Sicily (Mediterranean Sea): chemosymbiotic faunal and carbonate signatures of postglacial to modern cold seepage

“…The morphology of the tube resembles Lamellibrachia, a genus recorded from deep water cold seep sites (Olu-Le Roy et al, 2004;Werne et al, 2004;Duperron et al, 2009;Ritt et al, 2010;Hilário et al, 2011;, sunken wrecks (Hughes and Crawford, 2006;Gambi et al, 2011), and hydrothermal vents (Lott and Zimmerman, 2012) in the basin. Tubes might belong to Lamellibrachia anaximandri (Southward, Andersen and Hourdea, 2011), described from the Anaximander mud volcano in the eastern Mediterranean (Southward et al, 2011), and possibly much widespread in the entire Mediterranean basin (references in Taviani, 2013). In addition to these well known deep-water chemosymbiotic metazoans, we can further list a few other taxa preferentially coping with reducing environments, i.e.…”

<i>Spinaxinus</i> (Bivalvia: Thyasiroidea) from sulfide biogenerators in the Gulf of Mexico and hydrothermal vents in the Fiji Back Arc: chemosymbiosis and taxonomy

“…Co-occurring with Spinaxinus in the Gulf of Mexico is the vestimentiferan Lamellibrachia luymesi van der Land and Nørrevang, 1975, a species not yet recorded from the eastern Atlantic and not that recently discovered in the Mediterranean and described as L. anaximandri Southward et al 2011 Diagnosis. A medium-sized thyasirid with a fine spicate periostracum.…”