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A new bathyal amphipod from the Bay of Biscay: Carangolia barnardi sp. nov. (Gammaridea: Urothoidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 March 2001

D. Jaume
Affiliation:
Instituto Mediterráneo de Estudios Avanzados (CSIC-UIB), c/ Miquel Marquès 21, 07190 Esporles (Illes Balears), Spain, E-mail: vieadjl@clust.uib.es
J.-C. Sorbe
Affiliation:
Laboratoire d'Océanographie Biologique, UMR 5805 (CNRS/UB1), 2 rue Jolyet, 33120 Arcachon, France

Abstract

A new species of the cold-temperate austral amphipod genus Carangolia (Gammaridea: Urothoidae) is described from bathyal depths of the Bay of Biscay (north-east Atlantic). It was occasionally sampled in the south-eastern part of the Bay with sledges towed over muddy bottoms between 522 and 924 m water depth. This depth range falls mainly below the mud-line where the proportion of organic carbon increases in response to the deposition of silts and/or clay sediment. Most specimens were sampled by the lower net of the sledges, indicating a close association with the bottom. Abundance was relatively low, ranging between 0·18 and 4·90 ind 100 m−2, latter recorded below 700 m depth. The unusual massive appearance of Carangolia mandibles and its preference for bathyal foraminiferal oozes suggest that it is a specialized foraminifer consumer. The antitropical distribution pattern currently displayed by the genus could be an artefact due to equatorial submergence.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2001 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

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