13/07/2015
The CARCACE project research team of CESAM analyzed, for the first time, the Ophryotrocha worms assemblage associated with a mammal-fall in the deep-Atlantic Ocean. Specimens were collected from the bones of degrading cow carcasses deployed in the Setúbal canyon at approximately 1000 m depth. Using morphological characters and phylogenetic analyses based on the nuclear gene H3 performed on 31 Ophryotrocha species, the project research reported the presence of five different species, described three new species and extended the distribution of O. scutella. The results, published in Systematics and Biodiversity journal,substantially increase the number of deep Atlantic species in the genus Ophryotrocha and highlight the remarkable unknown diversity and biogeographic patterns hidden behind unstudied deep-sea habitats.
More details: https://uaonline.ua.pt/
http://www.tvi24.iol.pt/tecnologia/
https://video-fra3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hvideo-xfa1/v/t42.1790-2/11738984_911120612278097_1796851999_n.mp4?efg=eyJybHIiOjQ0OCwicmxhIjo2NTN9&rl=448&vabr=249&oh=2958ce34e55cda7bfd058f255cc23ba8&oe=55A8E0DE