A new species of Aurospio (Polychaeta, Spionidae) from the Antarctic shelf, with analysis of its ecology, reproductive biology and evolutionary history

• Published in: Marine Ecology
• Main Authors: Mincks, Sarah L., Dyal, Patricia L., Paterson, Gordon L. J., Smith, Craig R., Glover, Adrian G.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2009
• Subjects: Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Pacific; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0485.2008.00265.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1439-0485.2008.00265.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1439-0485.2008.00265.x

Abstract Recent field expeditions to the Antarctic shelf and surrounding basins have included substantial benthic sampling, revealing a diverse benthic infauna, including many previously unknown taxa. We describe a new species of spionid polychaete from the West Antarctic Peninsula shelf, Aurospio foodbancsia sp. n., which constitutes as much as 70% of the polychaete community at some locations. This species is morphologically very similar to the wide‐spread deep‐sea species Aurospio dibranchiata , and we revise the generic description of Aurospio to include this new species. We also present new records of A. dibranchiata from the Antarctic shelf/slope and the abyssal equatorial Pacific, including the deepest observations yet recorded. Aurospio foodbancsia sp. n. does not appear to undergo seasonal cycles in abundance, gametogenesis or recruitment, in contrast to observations on A. dibranchiata by other authors which suggest seasonal production of planktotrophic larvae. Our examination of several hundred specimens of A. foodbancsia sp. n. also revealed the presence of a parasitic turbellarian embedded within the body cavity. Morphological comparisons suggest close affinities between A. foodbancsia sp. n. and the exclusively deep‐sea congener, A. dibranchiata . Phylogenetic analysis of the Spionidae based on available 16S and 18S rRNA gene data also supports this relationship, suggesting a possible historical linkage between Antarctic shelf and deep‐sea taxa.