New record of "Bathymodiolus" mauritanicus Cosel 2002 from the Gulf of Cadiz (NE Atlantic) mud volcanoes

Abstract

The "Bathymodiolus" childressi group is the most geographically diverse assemblage of deep-sea mussel species. In this paper we consider several possible hypotheses to explain the present biogeographic distribution of the "B." childressi species complex. Mussels were collected for the first time from mud volcanoes in the Gulf of Cadiz (NE Atlantic Ocean) during the training through research (TTR) 16 research expedition in 2006. Preliminary observations of the shell features indicate that they belong to the "B." childressi species complex, which has been recognized as morphologically and genetically distinct from other Bathymodiolus species. Molecular analyses of two mitochondrial genes (COI-5 and ND4) were used to characterize the new mussel population from the Gulf of Cadiz (GOC) and to determine their phylogenetic relationships with other members of the "B." childressi group. The results indicate that the GOC mussels are conspecific with "Bathymodiolus" mauritanicus Cosel (2002), described from West Africa margin, and support a previous hypothesis that "B." mauritanicus is an amphi-Atlantic species.