Description and morphology of the "Juan de Fuca vent mussel", Benthomodiolus erebus sp. n. (Bivalvia, Mytilidae, Bathymodiolinae): "Phylogenetically basal but morphologically advanced"

The Juan de Fuca vent mussel first found in 1990 is formally described as Benthomodiolus erebus sp. n. Comparisons are made with the three other species previously assigned to Benthomodiolus namely B. lignocola, B. geikotsucola and B. abyssicola. The anatomies of all four species are examined and are shown to share the arrangement of pedal and byssus musculature, having largely un-fused mantle margins and a hind gut with a very short loop. The ctenidia were examined using both light and scanning electron microscopy. B. erebus and B. geikotsucola were found to have lamellar filaments with extensive abfrontal expansion and fusion of the ascending and descending arms. In this there is similarity with Bathymodiolus. B. lignocola and B. abyssicola were found to have linear filaments with narrow abfrontal surfaces with little fusion. All four species were shown to have the abfrontal surfaces covered by polygonal cushions of microvilli although these were much less apparent in B. lignocola and B. abyssicola. Although Benthomodiolus was shown by a number of previous studies, using molecular data alone, to be phylogenetically basal to all other Bathymodiolinae the anatomy is highly adapted for chemosymbiosis. Species of Benthomodiolus are found on wood-falls, whale-falls and vent sites and thus mirror the habits of the Bathymodiolus/Idas clade