Osedax lonnyi n. sp.

Figure 7

‘nude-palp-F’ (Rouse et al. 2015; Vrijenhoek et al. 2009)

Material examined. Holotype: Female, SIO-BIC A1647 (GenBank COI sequence FJ347643), fixed in glutaraldehyde-preserved in ethanol, collected from natural whale fall ( Eschrichtius robustus) found at 2898 meters depth in Monterey Submarine Canyon, California (36°36.606’N; 122°26.122’W) ROV Tiburon dive number 1162, Dec. 19, 2007.

Diagnosis and description. Holotype female; in life trunk 1 mm long, 0.5 mm wide (Fig. 7A), crown of four palps, 2.5 cm long (Fig. 7A), likely contracted even at this length. Tube gelatinous, thin, fitting about trunk and base of crown, 4 cm long (Fig. 7A). In life, palps with visible blood vessels and greenish tips (Fig. 7A, inset). Palps without obvious pinnules, oviduct extends slightly beyond palps (Fig. 7A inset). Trunk with pigmented ring demarking upper and lower trunk (Fig. 7B). Ovisac 2 mm by 1 mm with damaged lobate greenish roots extending outwards (Fig. 7B). Males not found.

Distribution. Known from Monterey Bay, California from 2898 meters depth (Table 2). It has only been found in a whale bone fragment, adjacent to the main skeleton.

Etymology. This species is named (noun in the genitive case) for Lonny Lundsten, Senior Research Technician at MBARI, for his enthusiasm and assistance on many Osedax expeditions.

Remarks. Osedax lonnyi n. sp. is part of Osedax Clade II and is the well-supported sistergroup to Osedax rogersi, an Antarctic species with an uncorrected divergence of 12%. Osedax lonnyi n. sp. is remarkable for the very long palps (2.5 cm) that it shows relative to the very short trunk (1.5 mm). The species is known from only a single specimen (holotype) collected in 2007 and no further specimens were found during any subsequent sampling at the same site. This is somewhat surprising as it is one of the larger species of Clade II and the whale fall was sampled a number of times.