Lepetella sp.

Gofas, Serge, Luque, Ángel A., Oliver, Joan Daniel, Templado, José & Serrano, Alberto, 2021, The Mollusca of Galicia Bank (NE Atlantic Ocean), European Journal of Taxonomy 785 (1), pp. 1-114 : 27

Lepetella sp.

Fig. 3H

Material examined

GALICIA BANK • 1 sh; 42°28.81′ N, 11°50.03′ W; 1410 m; 8 Aug. 2011; BANGAL 0711 DR15; MNCN • 50 spm; 43°00.12′ N, 11°57.67′ W; 1706 m; 29 Jul. 2011; BANGAL 0711 V2; MNCN • 3 sh; 42°56.77′ N, 11°58.53′ W; 1631 m; 2 Aug. 2011; BANGAL 0711 V5; MNCN • 10 spm, 40 sh; 42°41.87′ N, 11°26.71′ W; 1720 m; 8 Aug. 2011; BANGAL 0711 V10; MNCN.

Remarks

Numerous living specimens from 0.4 to 1.7 mm of a Lepetella species were found at depths of 1706 m (V2) and 1720 m (V10), attached to the external surface of empty tubes of the onuphid polychaete Hyalinoecia tubicola (Müller, 1776), which is common on deepest (1470‒1809 m) sedimentary bottoms of the GB ( Serrano et al. 2017a). Dantart & Luque (1994), Lima et al. (2015) and Hoffman et al. (2019b) have described some new species of Lepetella in different areas of the Atlantic, and the latter authors mention the possible presence of the dubious taxon L. ionica Nordsieck, 1973 in the GB. Nevertheless, a comparative anatomical and molecular study of these deep-water specimens and specimens of N Atlantic shallower water species of Lepetella is necessary to ascertain if they belong to a different and perhaps undescribed species.

Figures

Fig. 3. Polyplacophora and Gastropoda (Patellogastropoda and Vetigastropoda Lepetelloidea). A–B. Connexochiton platynomenus Kaas, 1979, ECOMARG 0709, G5, 863 m, 4.8 mm. C. Placiphorella atlantica (Verrill & S. Smith, 1882), BANGAL 0711, DR2, 1697 m, 10.3 mm (shipboard photograph by Pilar Ríos, IEO). D–E. Propilidium exiguum (Thompson, 1844), BANGAL 0711, V6, 909 m, 3.8 mm. F–G. Iothia fulva (Müller, 1776), SEAMOUNT 1, DW116, 985–1000 m, 6.3 mm.H. Living Lepetella sp. on a tube of the polychaete Hyalinoecia tubicola (Müller, 1776), BANGAL 0711, V2, 1706 m (shipboard photograph). I. Two small (3.5 and 2.0 mm) living specimens of Addisonia cf. excentrica (Tiberi, 1855) on the inside surface of an egg-capsule of Hydrolagus affinis (de Brito Capello, 1868), near two holes in the wall of the egg-capsule, BANGAL 0711, GOC9, 1683 m (shipboard photograph). Scale bars = 1 mm.