Deep-sea chitons from sunken wood in the West Pacific (Mollusca: Polyplacophora: Lepidopleurida): taxonomy, distribution, and seven new species

作者：Sigwart Julia D^*; Sirenko Boris I

来源：Zootaxa, 2012, 3195(3195): 1-38.

DOI：10.11646/zootaxa.3195.1.1

• Philippines
• Solomon Islands
• Vanuatu
• sunken wood

Natural deposits of sunken wood provide an important habitat for deep-sea invertebrates. Deep-sea chitons in the primitive order Lepidopleurida are typically collected rarely and as single specimens. However, these animals have been recovered in large densities associated with sunken wood in the tropical West Pacific, in groups of up to 50 individuals. Four deep-sea expeditions in the West Pacific, to the Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu, recovered a large number of polyplacophorans. We have examined the morphology as well as the range and distribution of these species, based on the largest collection ever examined (more than 1300 individuals). These species show potentially adapted characters associated with exploitation of sunken wood as habitat, such as protruding caps on sensory shell pores (aesthetes) and large intersegmental bristles with potential sensory function. In this study we investigated the twenty-two species recovered, including seven newly described here (Leptochiton consimilis n. sp., L. angustidens n. sp., L. dykei n. sp., L. samadiae n. sp., L. longisetosus n. sp., L. clarki n. sp., L. schwabei n. sp.), and provide the first identification key to the 34 lepidopleuran chitons known from sunken wood worldwide.

• 出版日期2012-2-16