Revisiting the 1964 Archimède bathyscaphe dive to 7300 m in the Puerto Rico trench, abundance of an elasipodid holothurian Peniagone sp. and a resolution to the identity of the ‘Puerto Rican snailfish’

Jamieson, Alan J.; Linley, Thomas D.; Stewart, Heather A.; Nargeolet, Paul-Henry; Vescovo, Victor. 2020 Revisiting the 1964 Archimède bathyscaphe dive to 7300 m in the Puerto Rico trench, abundance of an elasipodid holothurian Peniagone sp. and a resolution to the identity of the ‘Puerto Rican snailfish’. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 162, 103336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2020.103336

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Abstract/Summary

The first direct observations of the diversity and density of benthic epifauna from hadal depths was reported in 1965 from depths of 7300 m in the Puerto Rico Trench. The most striking part of the report from was an account of observing 200 snailfish (Liparidae) during a one mile transect by the bathyscaphe Archimède - an extraordinarily high-density of fish for hadal depths. In 2019 the submersible DSV Limiting Factor revisited the exact same site in the Puerto Rico Trench. No snailfish were observed. However, a large number of the holothurian Peniagone sp. were seen in a density similar to that reported originally for the snailfish. The holothurian has a similar exterior colour, texture and morphology to the snailfish. It is concluded that the reported hadal snailfish of the Puerto Rico Trench was in fact a misidentification of the holothurian Peniagone sp.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2020.103336
ISSN:	09670637
Date made live:	07 Jul 2020 15:10 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/528113

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