Search

Lamellibrachia columna Southward was originally described from hydrothermal vents of the Lau Basin, between Fiji and Tonga. This study utilizes phylogenetic and morphological analyses to confirm the collection of Lamellibrachia columna from cold seeps on the Hikurangi Margin off New Zealand, thereby extending its geographic range southward by approximately 1900 km. We also propose, based on molecular evidence, that specimens previously reported from vents in the Nankai Trough, Japan and seeps off southern and eastern Japan are L. columna. Furthermore, we suggest that Lamellibrachia sagami Kobayashi et al. described from cold seeps off southern and eastern Japan is a junior synonym of Lamellibrachia columna. Our work confirms that L. columna is found at two types of chemosynthetic habitat over a wide geographic range in the western Pacific Ocean.

Bathymodiolus Kenk and Wilson, 1985 includes fourteen currently recognized species from deep-sea chemosynthetic environments in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans. In this study, phylogenetic analyses of mytilid mussels sampled from seeps along the Costa Rica margin reveal the presence of three new Bathymodiolus species, sampled from depths across ~1000–1900 m. Bathymodiolus billschneideri n. sp., B. earlougheri n. sp., and B. nancyschneiderae n. sp. differ genetically from congeneric species of Bathymodiolus and show some stratification by depth. The depth ranges of Bathymodiolus billschneideri n. sp., B. nancyschneiderae n. sp., and B. earlougheri n. sp. were ~1400–1900 m, 1000–1100 m, and ~1000–1900m, respectively. Bathymodiolus billschneideri n. sp. and B. earlougheri n. sp. were found to be closely related to Bathymodiolus thermophilus Kenk and Wilson, 1985, while B. nancyschneiderae n. sp. exhibited closer relationships to non-East-Pacific taxa. Bathymodiolus thermophilus was the first Bathymodiolus mussel discovered, sampled from a vent along the Galapagos Rift Zone in 1985 and later recorded along much of the East Pacific Rise. This study confirms the presence of B. thermophilus at the Costa Rica margin, representing the first DNA and morphological samples of B. thermophilus at a seep environment. Analysis of habitat evolution suggests that B. thermophilus and its closest relative, B. antarcticus Johnson and Vrijenhoek, 2013, are of seep ancestry.

Lamellibrachia Webb, 1969 has eight currently recognized species reported from chemosynthetic environments in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Mediterranean. Of these, Lamellibrachia barhami Webb, 1969 has been reported in the eastern Pacific from Canada to Costa Rica. In this study, phylogenetic analyses of Lamellibrachia tubeworms sampled from the Costa Rica margin confirm the large geographic range of L. barhami and reveal a new Lamellibrachia species from a single methane seep between 999 and 1,040 meters. Lamellibrachia donwalshi sp. nov. differs genetically and morphologically from all congeneric species. Despite its geographic proximity to the eastern Pacific L. barhami, L. donwalshi sp. nov. formed a clade with Atlantic and Mediterranean Lamellibrachia species. This suggests a vicariant event may have occurred after an Atlantic radiation of Lamellibrachia.