Bathymodiolus mauritanicus von Cosel, 2002 MYTILIDAE -1200m, Trawled by the M.P. Peixe de Mar, Methane seep site, 18°41N 16°45W, Off Nouakchott / Banc dArguin, Mauritania, 98.6mm, F++, 1994/i Bathymodiolus mauritanicus is a deep-sea mussel endemic to cold seeps of the Atlantic Ocean. Unusually for a bathymodioline it was not described from samples collected during submersible dives but instead using specimens trawled commercially from -1000~1200m off Mauritania. Since its description it has been discovered at many more sites on both eastern and western Atlantic ranging from the Barbados prism to the Angola margin, and is therefore considered a bathyal amphi-Atlantic species with a depth range around -1000~1700m. It is likely to rely on endosymbiotic bacteria inhabiting its gills for a large part of the nutrition like other Bathymodiolus species, while also being capable of filter-feeding. It is a member of the Bathymodiolus childressi Gustafson, Turner, Lutz & Vrijenhoek, 1998 complex, recognised from recent phylogenetic studies as being a separate clade from Bathymodiolus sensu stricto (ie. the clade characterised by Bathymodiolus thermophilus Kenk & Wilson, 1985) and contains further species from the Western Pacific and off New Zealand, such as Bathymodiolus platifrons Hashimoto & Okutani, 1994 and Bathymodiolus tangaroa Cosel & Marshall, 2003. The speices in this complex differ from Bathymodiolus s.s. morphologically by having low, almost terminal umbones, smaller adductor scar, among other features. The genus Bathymodiolus as a whole is now known to be paraphyletic as other mytilids (e.g., Adipicola crypta (Dall, Bartsch & Rehder, 1938)) appears nested among Bathymodiolus species in phylogenetic analyses, and thus erection of a new genus is likely required in the future to house the B. childressi complex. Currently many authors enclose the genus in quotation marks for this complex to indicate their questionable genus-level placement. In fact the entire subfamily Bathymodiolinae requires a revision in the near future, and recent evidences suggest that Bathymodiolinae perhaps should be incorporated into Modiolinae. Typical shell length around 90mm, very large specimens may exceed 110mm. Although it is common where it is found its bathyal habitats are inaccessible and thus it is very rarely seen in the shell trade. Nonetheless, a considerable number of specimens trawled off Mauritania in 1994 (including the depicted specimen) have made it to the market, making it easier to obtain than other Bathymodiolus species.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 09:38:07 +0000
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