Deep-sea hydrothermal vents are dynamic environments with exotic fauna, including bathymodiolin mussels and scale worm annelids that are often in close association. In this study, we found a new species of Branchipolynoe (Aphroditiformia: Polynoidae) living in the recently discovered mussel Gigantidas vrijenhoeki in deep-sea hydrothermal vents and methane seeps at 2,014-2,023 m depth. Based on the morphology and full mitochondrial genome sequences of specimens of Branchipolynoe from the Onnuri vent field (OVF) on the northern Central Indian Ridge, we describe them as a new species: Branchipolynoe onnuriensis sp. nov. This species resembles B. longqiensis and B. tjiasmantoi, but can be distinguished from these species by the shape of the notopodial acicular lobe and the tips of the subacicular neurochaetae. This identity is well-supported by genetic distance and phylogenetic analyses based on the mitochondrial c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene, with the new species being closest to the Western Pacific species B. tjiasmantoi. Phylogenetic analyses support close relationships between the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific hydrothermal polychaetes. Our data provide a foundation for exploring the evolutionary relationship between scale worms and bathymodiolin mussels.
Keywords: Chemosynthetic environment; Full mitochondrial genome; Hydrothermal vent; Mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI); Polychaeta; Taxonomy.