Bathyplax, A. Milne-Edwards, 1880

Martin, Joel W. & Haney, Todd A., 2005, Decapod crustaceans from hydrothermal vents and cold seeps: a review through 2005, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 145 (4), pp. 445-522 : 494-495

GENUS BATHYPLAX A. MILNE- EDWARDS, 1880 BATHYPLAX TYPHLUS A. MILNE- EDWARDS, 1880

Type locality: off Frederickstadt , St Croix Island, 825 m (451 fathoms) ( Rathbun, 1918: 19) .

Known range: North Carolina to Brazil and throughout the Gulf of Mexico, 402–878 m (as 220– 480 fathoms) ( Rathbun, 1918; Pequegnat, 1970).

Occurrence at vents or seeps: Bush Hill site, off Louisiana.

Material: Abundant non-vent material was listed by Rathbun (1918) and Pequegnat (1970). Although no specimens appear to have been collected from the Bush Hill site, Pequegnat (1970) listed abundant material from Alaminos deep-sea collections, some of which may have come from oil-seep areas (see below).

Remarks: The spelling of the species name was corrected from B. typhla to B. typhlus by Tavares (1996: 414); the older name is unfortunately more prevalent in the literature. MacDonald et al. (1989: 241) identified this species from still photographs and video tapes taken of ‘common slope fauna’ in the vicinity of a hydrocarbon seep (Bush Hill site) off Louisiana in the northern Gulf of Mexico. We are not aware of any other mention of the species or genus in connection with vents or seeps. Interestingly, however, Pequegnat (1970: 192), who described the species as ‘very likely the most abundant deep-sea brachyuran in the Gulf of Mexico’, also noted that ‘blackened specimens are common and are probably befouled from natural oil seeps’. Goneplacids are common members of the deep-sea fauna, and it is somewhat surprising that there are so few other published reports of goneplacids in connection with vents or seeps.