"The discovery represents a significant find in the study of the deep ocean, the largest ecosystem on the planet but one that is inhospitable to humans and remains largely unexplored. During a 2023 expedition aboard the E/V Nautilus, scientists using the remotely operated vehicle Hercules spotted a fragment of sunken wood resting off the remote Johnston Atoll. As they drew closer, they found a thriving community that included a large population of strange limpets - oval, pale, and thick-shelled, with a distinctive arched profile."
"In a new study published in Molluscan Research, researchers in OEB and the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology formally describe Pectinodonta nautilus, named in honor of the exploration vessel responsible for its discovery. The team led by Gonzalo Giribet, a professor of organismic and evolutionary biology and director of the MCZ, and Rodríguez-Flores used cutting-edge imaging and molecular techniques to examine the 79 individuals collected from the 35-centimeter-long piece of wood."
A new species of deep-sea limpet, Pectinodonta nautilus, was found nearly 2,400 meters below the central Pacific surface on a sunken 35-centimeter piece of wood near Johnston Atoll. Seventy-nine individuals were collected from the wood fall during a 2023 E/V Nautilus expedition using the remotely operated vehicle Hercules. The limpets are oval, pale, thick-shelled with an arched profile and belong to the family Pectinodontidae, a rare group associated with wood falls. Researchers used imaging and molecular techniques to examine the specimens. Wood falls host specialized fauna and represent fleeting, less-studied deep-sea ecosystems.
Read at Harvard Gazette
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