Veleropilina oligotropha (Rokop, 1972)

Wiklund, Helena, Taylor, John D., Dahlgren, Thomas G., Todt, Christiane, Ikebe, Chiho, Rabone, Muriel & Glover, Adrian G., 2017, Abyssal fauna of the UK- 1 polymetallic nodule exploration area, Clarion-Clipperton Zone, central Pacific Ocean: Mollusca, ZooKeys 707, pp. 1-46 : 20-21

Veleropilina oligotropha (Rokop, 1972)

Material examined.

NHM_405 NHMUK 20170072, collected 2013-10-20, 13.86328 -116.54885, 4050 m. http://data.nhm.ac.uk/object/bf968b01-1991-43b7-87e4-25da4d5a9dc5

Description.

Shell transparent, sculpture is reticulate, reticulation not covering the smooth apical area. Voucher specimen NHM_405, specimen length 2.2 mm, specimen width 1 mm (Fig. 19).

Genetic data.

GenBank NHM_405 16S-MF157465, 18S-MF157495, COI-MF157522.

Remarks.

Morphologically agrees with description of Veleropilina oligotropha (Rokop, 1972) described from ~6000 m water depth in the central North Pacific.

Forms a unique monophyletic clade distinct from all other AB01 specimens. No genetic matches on GenBank. In the molecular analyses based on the 16S gene, the Monoplacophora clade is strongly supported, but internal branches are unresolved or, when clades are present, they have low support (Fig. 20).

Ecology.

Specimen collected from an epibenthic sledge tow across region of sediment and polymetallic nodules. Rokop (1972) did not observe the species directly on nodules, they were just recovered from the epibenthic sledge sample, as was the case in this study. The importance of the nodules as a habitat for the species remains uncertain until they are directly observed live on the seafloor.