Benthic megafauna of the western Clarion-Clipperton Zone, Pacific Ocean Author Bribiesca-Contreras, Guadalupe https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8163-8724 Life Sciences Department, Natural History Museum, London, UK l.bribiesca-contreras@nhm.ac.uk Author Dahlgren, Thomas G. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6854-2031 Department of Marine Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden & Norwegian Research Centre, NORCE, Bergen, Norway Author Amon, Diva J. SpeSeas, D'Abadie, Trinidad and Tobago Author Cairns, Stephen https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7209-9271 Department of Invertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C., USA Author Drennan, Regan https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0137-5464 National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK Author Durden, Jennifer M. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6529-9109 UMR ISYEB, Department Origines et Evolution, Museum national d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France Author Eleaume, Marc P. Collections & Research, Western Australia Museum, Perth, Australia Author Hosie, Andrew M. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5683-662X Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia Author Kremenetskaia, Antonina https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8851-3318 School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK Author McQuaid, Kirsty https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0395-8332 Museums Victoria, Melbourne, Australia Author O'Hara, Timothy D. Department of Oceanography, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, USA Author Rabone, Muriel https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8351-2313 National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK Author Simon-Lledo, Erik UMR ISYEB, Department Origines et Evolution, Museum national d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France Author Smith, Craig R. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3976-0889 School of Life Sciences, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, USA Author Watling, Les https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6901-1168 School of Life Sciences, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, USA Author Wiklund, Helena https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8252-3504 Department of Marine Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden Author Glover, Adrian G. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9489-074X National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK text ZooKeys 2022 2022-07-18 1113 1 110 http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1113.82172 journal article http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1113.82172 1313-2970-1113-1 EB46BF265F2E51B3A83799886C5F084A Benthodytes cf. sanguinolenta Theel , 1882 Fig. 44 Material. Clarion-Clipperton Zone • 1 specimen ; APEI 1; 11.2953°N , 153.742°W ; 5245 m deep; 09 Jun. 2018 ; Smith & Durden leg.; GenBank : ON400720 (COI); NHMUK 2022.70; Voucher code: CCZ_178 . Description. Single specimen (Fig. 44A ). Colouration of live specimen is light pink dorsally (Fig. 44B ), darker ventrally (Fig. 44C ). Tentacles 18, yellow, digitiform. Numerous dorsal papillae scattered on dorsal. Brim wide. Tube feet in double rows along the mid-ventral ambulacrum, ~ 30 pairs, yellowish. Ossicles not found. Figure 44. Benthodytes cf. sanguinolenta Theel , 1882. Specimen CCZ_178: A in situ image B dorsal view of specimen before preservation C ventral view. Scale bars: 2 cm ( A ); 1 cm ( B, C ). Image attribution: Durden and Smith ( A ); Wiklund, Durden, Drennan, and McQuaid ( B, C ). Remarks. The closest match for the COI sequence is a sequence from B. sanguinolenta (GenBank: HM196505.1; 93.54% similarity) from the Ross Sea, Antarctica. A genetic study revealed two separate clades within B. sanguinolenta ( O'Loughlin et al. 2011 ): (1) specimens from northwest Australia, and (2) Ross Sea. None of the samples included in O'Loughlin et al. (2011) are from the type locality (34.1167° S 73.9399°'W, off Chile, Pacific Ocean; 4000 m), but they identified at least two separate genetic species. The COI sequence of the specimen collected in the CCZ forms a third clade within the B. sanguinolenta species complex (Fig. 34 ). Genetic divergence (K2P distance) between the CCZ specimens and both NW Australia and Ross Sea clades is 10.1% and 7.3%, respectively, corresponding to values of intraspecific divergence in the group. In original description, Theel (1882) describes the body to be 6-7 x longer than wide, whereas the preserved specimen collected in the CCZ is only ~ 3 x longer than wide, but might be due to preservation as in in situ images it appears longer. However, the number of digitiform tentacles and appearance of small processes are concordant with the description of B. sanguinolenta . The sequence of Benthodytes cf. sanguinolenta from Glover et al. (2016b) does not form a clade with the CCZ specimen, with COI genetic distance being large (K2P 23%). Ecology. The specimen was found on the sedimented seafloor of an abyssal plain in APEI 1 at 5249 m depth. Comparison with image-based catalogue. No exactly similar Benthodytes sp. morphotypes have been so far catalogued from seabed imagery collected in the eastern CCZ or in abyssal areas of the Kiribati EEZ. Consequently, the in situ image of specimen CCZ_178 was catalogued as a new morphotype (i.e., Benthodytes sanguinolenta sp. inc., HOL_124).