The Annelid Community of a Natural Deep-sea Whale Fall off Eastern Australia Author Georgieva, Magdalena N. Life Sciences Department, Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom & Univ. Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, UMR 6197 Biologie et Ecologie des Ecosystèmes marins Profonds, Plouzané, France Author Wiklund, Helena Life Sciences Department, Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom & Department of Marine Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden & Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Gothenburg, Sweden Author Ramos, Dino A. Life Sciences Department, Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom & University of Grenada, Grenada, Spain Author Neal, Lenka Life Sciences Department, Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom Author Glasby, Christopher J. Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, Sydney, Australia & Natural Sciences, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, Australia & Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Australia Author Gunton, Laetitia M. Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, Sydney, Australia text Records of the Australian Museum 2023 Rec. Aust. Mus. 2023-05-17 75 3 167 213 http://dx.doi.org/10.3853/j.2201-4349.75.2023.1800 journal article 10.3853/j.2201-4349.75.2023.1800 2201-4349 10414191 32014E75-6253-41C0-BEDC-7A461321A0A1 Osedax byronbayensis sp. nov. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: D8AA2600-5820-4531-A012-4B3D1F4C0664 Fig. 28 Holotype : AM W.53707, IN2017_ V03 _100; 9 June 2017 ; off Byron Bay , NSW, Australia , beam trawl, start: 28.05°S 154.08°E, 999 m, end: 28.10°S 154.08°E , 1013 m . Paratypes : NMV F253033 , NMV F253035 , same locality as holotype. DNA vouchers: AM W.53707 ( COI , 16S, 18S) , NMV F253033 ( COI ) , NMV F253035 ( COI ) . Description . Holotype incomplete, represented by majority of tube containing a fragment of tissue. Tube approximately 18 mm long, tapering anteriorly, and ending in a closed point ( Fig. 28A ). Tube material is easily torn. No males observed on tube. Tissue present within tube is possibly a single palp approximately 4 mm long and sinuous, surface appears smooth ( Fig. 28B ). Specimen not observed alive. Distribution . IN2017_V03, Station 100. Pilot whale carcass, off Byron Bay, New South Wales , Australia in 999–1013 m . Etymology . This species is named after the town of Byron Bay, Australia , off which this whale fall was discovered. Remarks . Osedax byronbayensis sp. nov. is known only from three incomplete specimens, therefore a complete morphological description was not possible. Molecular data demonstrates the three specimens to belong to the same species with high support ( Fig. 27 ); uncorrected COI p -distances between the three specimens are 0.4–0.6%. They are positioned in a clade with other nude palp Osedax species and demonstrate a minimum uncorrected COI p-distance of 12.7% to other Osedax species (to Osedax ryderi Rouse, Goffredi, Johnson, & Vrijenhoek, 2018 ; Table S17). As with Osedax species Osedax crouchi Amon, Wiklund, Dahlgren, Copley, Smith, Jamieson, & Glover, 2014 , Osedax nordenskjoeldi Amon, Wiklund, Dahlgren, Copley, Smith, Jamieson, & Glover, 2014 , Osedax rogersi Amon, Wiklund, Dahlgren, Copley, Smith, Jamieson, & Glover, 2014 , and Osedax ventana Rouse, Goffredi, Johnson, & Vrijenhoek, 2018 , O. byronbayensis sp. nov. is described mainly on the basis of molecular data.