A new species of deep-sea worm has been identified in the depths of the north-east Atlantic south-west of Ireland.
The species, named, Melinnopsis nathanieli, was collected from the Porcupine Abyssal Plain Sustained Observatory (PAP-SO), a long-term scientific study site in the northeast Atlantic at nearly 5000m depth.
The discovery was a collaboration between researchers at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), the University of Southampton and the University of Portsmouth.
Previous species identified in this observatory area include octopuses, sea anemones, amphipods, sea cucumbers and sea pens.
The NOC says it is the first new polychaete worm (bristle worm) species described from the site for a decade.
The worm was given a name honouring NOC researcher Amanda Serpell-Stevens’ son, Nathaniel, as a surprise for his 21st birthday.
The NOC says that seabed images appear to show Melinnopsis nathanieli ‘fishing’ for food.
The worm sticks out a long tentacle from its mouth, sweeps it through the water column and across the sediment surface picking up food particles, similar to a flyfisher casting for trout, it says.
“Its tube, which stands upright in the sediment, can reach at least 30 cm in length and has a close association with anemones and ascidians (sea squirts). The tube acts as a hard substrate for these animals, raising them vertically into the stronger water flow above the sediment surface enabling them to trap more food,” it says.
“Although the species of worm had been observed frequently in seabed photographs and collected in sampling surveys used to assess long-term environmental change at PAP-SO since sampling began there in the 1980s, it has remained a nameless mystery for decades,”it says.
Dr Laetitia Gunton, lead author of the study and teaching fellow at the University of Southampton, said:
“This study is unique as it is very rare to be able to provide behavioural information in a deep-sea species description."
" This is the first time I have described a deep-sea species with in-situ images available. The vertical positioning of the worm’s tube in the sediment and mid-water ‘fishing’ technique is fascinating, I would never have expected the behaviour from studying the physical specimens alone," she has said.
Naming this species by writing a formal description and observing its behaviour vastly improves understanding of biodiversity at this important long term monitoring site, the NOC says.
“This allows scientists to make better comparisons to other deep-sea locations around the world and understand deep-sea species’ unique ecological roles,” it says.
