BICOSE

A Btiny and mysterious creature swinging on a stem^: that was the first observation of the new species Dulichiopsis dianae sp. nov. made during the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dive devoted to the exploration of the surroundings of the vent site TAG (BICOSE cruise, 3550–3650 m). The viewing and analysis of the high-definition pictures from several dives (PL570, PL573 and PL575) corresponding to five different locations around TAG revealed that these organisms were amphipods, hung on erected and flexible masts (5–7 cm length) attached to the underlying hard substratum. Two specimens were opportunely sampled during dive PL575 (3637 m) with the suction sampler of the ROVand were identified as a new species ascribed to the genus Dulichiopsis (family Dulichiidae). The present study provides the morphological description of this new species, coupled with in situ observations of its behaviour and lifestyle in the vicinity of the TAG vent field. Taxonomic and ecological aspects of the family Dulichiidae are proposed here, as well as a review of the amphipod diversity in hydrothermal environments.

BICOSE

Abstract Although raphitomid snails are a dominant component of gastropod communities in deep seas worldwide, their systematics is still largely tentative. We assembled the most complete sampling of Raphitomidae from south-eastern Australia to date. Based on morphological and molecular data from this material, we produced a robust phylogenetic framework and used it to delimit genera. For the focus area, our results show a large proportion of undescribed species- and genus-level taxa, 11 of which are formally described herein. We demonstrate that the examination of purely morphological characters rarely suffices for the purpose of accurate genus delimitation. As a result, some traditionally highly diverse raphitomid genera (such as Gymnobela) turn out to be artificial assemblages of several unrelated, mostly undescribed, genus-level lineages. Our data suggest that comparable configurations of shell and radular features, observed at the genus level, commonly do not reflect true phylogenetic relationships. However, our results are inconclusive as to whether homoplasy or conservatism are the drivers of this phenomenon. Accommodating for the inevitable sampling biases, south-eastern Australia appears as a possible hotspot for both raphitomid diversity and endemism, when compared with adjacent areas.

AURORA 2007, BICOSE, BOA1, EBISCO, PANGLAO 2004, PAPUA NIUGINI, SALOMON 2

AURORA 2007, BATHUS 4, BICOSE, CORINDON 2, EBISCO, ???msg.security.private???, KARUBAR, MUSORSTOM 7, NORFOLK 2, PANGLAO 2004, PAPUA NIUGINI, SALOMON 2

BICOSE

BICOSE

The power and throughput of next-generation sequencing is instigating a major transformation in our understanding of evolution and classification of life on our planet. The new trees of life are robust and comprehensive. Here we provide a landmark phylogeny of the living ophiuroids and use it as the basis for a major revision of the higher classification of this class of marine invertebrates. We used an exoncapture system to generate a 1484 exon (273 kbp) data-matrix from DNA extracted from ethanolpreserved museum samples. We successfully obtained an average of 90% of our target sequence from 576 species spread across the known taxonomic diversity. The topology of the major lineages was robust to taxon sampling, exon-sampling, models and methods. However, estimates of node age were much less precise, varying by about a quarter of mean age. We used a combination of phylogenetic distinctiveness and temporal-banding to guide our revision of the family-level classification. Empirically, we determined that limiting family crown age to 110 ± 10 Ma (mid Cretaceous) selected phylogenetically distinct nodes while minimising disruption to the existing taxonomy. The resulting scheme of 32 families and six orders considerably expands the number of higher taxa. The families are generally longitudinally widespread across the world’s oceans, although 17 are largely confined to temperate and equatorial latitudes and six to relatively shallow water (less than 1000 m depth).

ATIMO VATAE, BICOSE, BIOPAPUA, CEAMARC-AA, EBISCO, MUSORSTOM 7, SALOMON 2, SANTO 2006, TAIWAN 2000

The phylogeny of sea spiders has been debated for more than a century. Despite several molecular studies in the last twenty years, interfamilial relationships remain uncertain. In the present study, relationships within Pyc­ nogonida are examined in the light of a new dataset composed of 160 mitochondrial genomes (including 152 new sequences) and 130 18S rRNA gene sequences (including 120 new sequences), from 141 sea spider mor­ phospecies representing 26 genera and 9 families. Node congruence between mitochondrial and nuclear markers was analysed to identify the most reliable relationships. We also reanalysed a multilocus dataset previously published and showed that the high percentages of missing data make phylogenetic conclusions difficult and uncertain.

ATIMO VATAE, BICOSE, BIOCAL, BIOMAGLO, BIOPAPUA, CEAMARC-AA, EXBODI, GUYANE 2014, ILES DU SALUT, KANACONO, KANADEEP, KARUBENTHOS 2012, KAVIENG 2014, MADIBENTHOS, MAINBAZA, MIRIKY, MONTROUZIER, MUSORSTOM 4, MUSORSTOM 8, PAPUA NIUGINI, SALOMONBOA 3, TARASOC, Walters Shoal