Morphology, microanatomy and sequence data of Sclerolinum contortum (Siboglindae, Annelida) of the Gulf of Mexico

• Published in: Organisms Diversity & Evolution
• Main Authors: Eichinger, Irmgard, Hourdez, Stéphane, Bright, Monika
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2013
• Subjects: Original Article; Arctic
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4416538/; https://doi.org/10.1007/s13127-012-0121-3

Sclerolinum is a small genus of Siboglinidae (Annelida) living in an obligate mutualistic association with thiotrophic bacteria as adults. Its taxonomic position, based on morphology, has been controversial; however, molecular data point to a sister taxa relationship with vestimentiferans. 16S rRNA gene sequencing and comparative morphology revealed that the studied population from deep-sea hydrocarbon seeps of the Gulf of Mexico belongs to Sclerolinum contortum known from the Arctic Sea. Since no anatomical and microanatomical studies have been published yet, we conducted such a study on S. contortum using serial sectioning and light and transmission electron microscopy. We show that the Sclerolinum body, divided into a head, trunk, and opisthosoma, is very similar to that of the vestimentiferans, and therefore we propose that the body regions are homologous in both taxa.