Additional records of the hydrothermal vent scale worm Branchinotogluma segonzaci (Polynoidae: Lepidonotopodinae) from the North Fiji Basin and Tonga Arc

Abstract

Branchinotogluma segonzaci (Miura and Desbruyeres, 1995) occurs in hydrothermal vent fields of the southwestern Pacific Ocean. We morphologically compared B. segonzaci from the North Fiji Basin with the original description from the Lau Basin and a subsequent study of specimens from the Manus Basin. The main characteristics of all B. segonzaci populations were similar having 21 segments, 10 pairs of elytra, cylindrical-shaped anterior lobes, and ventral papillae on segment 12 and ventral lamellae on segments 13-17 in males. However, the specimens from the North Fiji Basin had rounded to sub-renifrom elytra rather than oval in the original description. Additionally, we newly obtained 11 cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) DNA barcodes from the North Fiji Basin and Tonga Arc populations and compared them with known COI DNA barcodes of Branchinotogluma species. Thirteen sequences of B. segonzaci showed 0.0-1.07% intraspecific variation and formed two clades in the COI neighbor-joining tree, whereas the interspecific variation among Branchinotogluma species was 8.19-22.4%. The results of this study contribute to biogeographic studies of B. segonzaci and the evolution of polynoid scale worms in chemosynthesisbased ecosystems.