and this makes the Alboran Sea one of the better known areas for this group, together
with the Gulf of Naples (Sánchez-Tocino and Tierno de Figueroa 2009b, c).
10.2.7 Polychaeta
Vestimentiferan tubeworms (Annelida, Siboglinidae) represent one of the most
intriguing clades within polychaetes from both a phylogenetic and an ecological
point of view and are typically associated with reducing habitats such as hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. They depend on organic compounds supplied by endosymbiotic chemoautotrophic bacteria and lack a mouth and gut in the adult phase.
Lamellibrachia anaximandri is the only known representative of siboglinids in the
Mediterranean Sea (Southward et al. 2011). This vestimentiferan tubeworm has
recently been described at various deep locations of the Eastern Basin and Southern
Tyrrhenian Sea (at the Palinuro volcanic complex) (Rubin-Blum et al. 2014) and has
also been observed in a mud volcano field in the West Alboran Basin at 570 m depth
(Hilário et al. 2011). Vestimentiferan tubes appeared grouped in dense bush-like
aggregates, and they can exceed 1 m in length.
10.2.8 Crustacea
The isopod Astacilla carlosoteroi was previously only known from a single, incomplete female from the Ferrol estuary (Galicia, NW Spain, Atlantic), but recently
some specimens (including males) have been found near the Alboran Islands
(Rincón et al. 2018). This is the first report of the species from the Mediterranean
Sea and the second worldwide record of the species.
10.2.9 Bryozoa
The pedunculate bryozoans of the genus Kinetoskias are typically abyssal and are
characterized by an erect colony and an elongate peduncle supporting a cup-shaped
crown of slender, unilaminar branches. The north Atlantic species Kinetoskias smitti
Danielssen, 1868, was recorded in the Alboran Sea at a much shallower depth
(428 m) than in the Atlantic (Harmelin and d’Hondt 1992), and this is the only
record of this genus in the Mediterranean.
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with the Gulf of Naples (Sánchez-Tocino and Tierno de Figueroa 2009b, c).
10.2.7 Polychaeta
Vestimentiferan tubeworms (Annelida, Siboglinidae) represent one of the most
intriguing clades within polychaetes from both a phylogenetic and an ecological
point of view and are typically associated with reducing habitats such as hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. They depend on organic compounds supplied by endosymbiotic chemoautotrophic bacteria and lack a mouth and gut in the adult phase.
Lamellibrachia anaximandri is the only known representative of siboglinids in the
Mediterranean Sea (Southward et al. 2011). This vestimentiferan tubeworm has
recently been described at various deep locations of the Eastern Basin and Southern
Tyrrhenian Sea (at the Palinuro volcanic complex) (Rubin-Blum et al. 2014) and has
also been observed in a mud volcano field in the West Alboran Basin at 570 m depth
(Hilário et al. 2011). Vestimentiferan tubes appeared grouped in dense bush-like
aggregates, and they can exceed 1 m in length.
10.2.8 Crustacea
The isopod Astacilla carlosoteroi was previously only known from a single, incomplete female from the Ferrol estuary (Galicia, NW Spain, Atlantic), but recently
some specimens (including males) have been found near the Alboran Islands
(Rincón et al. 2018). This is the first report of the species from the Mediterranean
Sea and the second worldwide record of the species.
10.2.9 Bryozoa
The pedunculate bryozoans of the genus Kinetoskias are typically abyssal and are
characterized by an erect colony and an elongate peduncle supporting a cup-shaped
crown of slender, unilaminar branches. The north Atlantic species Kinetoskias smitti
Danielssen, 1868, was recorded in the Alboran Sea at a much shallower depth
(428 m) than in the Atlantic (Harmelin and d’Hondt 1992), and this is the only
record of this genus in the Mediterranean.
10 Invertebrates: The Realm of Diversity
373