Ophryotrocha maculata Akesson 1973

• Main Authors: Wiklund, Helena, Glover, Adrian G., Dahlgren, Thomas G.
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2009
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Annelida; Polychaeta; Eunicida; Dorvilleidae; Ophryotrocha; Ophryotrocha maculata; minke whale; North Atlantic; North East Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5698114; http://treatment.plazi.org/id/03C487F9FFB0FFF7A0881550FE09FAE1

Ophryotrocha maculata Åkesson, 1973 Material examined: Northern North Atlantic, coastal Skagerrak, 58° 53.1’ N; 11° 06.4’ E. Specimens recovered from minke whale bones in experimental aquarium tanks. Remarks: As with Palpiphitime lobifera this species was abundant on the whale bones. Both species have been described from anthropogenically enriched sediments such as pulp mill discharge. The discovery of dense populations of these two species actively feeding on mat-forming filamentous bacteria at whale falls suggest that they are important species for ecosystem function in terms of the degradation of high molecular weight organic compounds. Published as part of Wiklund, Helena, Glover, Adrian G. & Dahlgren, Thomas G., 2009, Three new species of Ophryotrocha (Annelida: Dorvilleidae) from a whale-fall in the North-East Atlantic, pp. 43-56 in Zootaxa 2228 on page 51, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.190259