Diversity (Oct 2022)

New Deep-Sea Molluscan Records from Mallorca Channel Seamounts (North-Western Mediterranean)

  • Elena Marco-Herrero,
  • Montserrat Ramón,
  • Sergio Ramírez-Amaro,
  • Olga Sánchez-Guillamón,
  • Francesc Ordines,
  • Carmina López-Rodríguez,
  • María Teresa Farriols,
  • Juan Tomás Vázquez,
  • Enric Massutí

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/d14110928
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 11
p. 928

Abstract

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Seamounts are globally important and essential ecosystems for supporting and maintaining marine biodiversity. In the Mallorca Channel, three prominent seamounts are present: Ausias March, Ses Olives and Emile Baudot. Currently, this area is being evaluated for inclusion in the Natura 2000 network. For this objective three surveys were conducted in the seamounts of the Mallorca Channel during July 2018 and July 2020. Samples of macro-invertebrates obtained in the deep sea revealed a rich fauna of Mollusca (68 species belonging to 40 families). New Mollusca occurrences included: four species of Gastropoda: Colus jeffreysianus, Cantrainea peloritana, Fusiturris similis, Gymnobela abyssorum, and seven species of Bivalvia: Pododesmus squama, Allogramma formosa, Asperarca nodulosa, Cetomya neaeroides, Spondylus gussonii, Haliris granulata and Policordia gemma. Where possible, the identification of these species was confirmed using the DNA barcoding method (sequencing of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I). This study contributes towards filling the gap in knowledge of deep-sea mollusc fauna of the north-western Mediterranean.

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