Bivalve Veligers
Mussels and clams are often found in deep sea methane seeps and hydrothermal vents. We found many bivalve veliger larvae in the plankton at various depths. The identity of these larvae was determined using morphological and molecular characters (see COI phylogeny below). Check out our conference poster on bivalve larvae that was presented at the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology in 2014.
COI neighbor-joining phylogeny including bivalve veligers and closest matching sequences from GenBank. BV#s in red represent individuals described below.
Mytilidae: A family of mussels, members of which are found in seep communities.
243BV5: Larvae of Bathymodiolus maurtanicus, an amphi-Atlantic mussel species, were found in the water column near the Barbados Accretionary Prism from 200-1,250 meter depths.
20BV7: The species level identity of this mytilid larva, which was collected from 2,300-2,450 meter depths in the South Atlantic Bight, is currently unknown.
2958BV: The species level identity of this mytilid larva, which was collected in surface waters (0-200 meters deep) near the Barbados Accretionary Prism, is currently unknown.
Vesicomyidae: A family of clams, members of which are also found in seep communities.
435, 244, 434BV6: We found and identified three larvae of Laubierconcha myriamae, a cold-seep species describedby Cosel and Olu (2008). All larvae were found between 900-1,250 meter depths near the Barbados Accretionary Prism.
426BV4: This larva was collected between 900-1,250 meters deep near the Barbados Accretionary Prism. It belongs to an undescribed vesicomyid species, adults of which were encountered and collected using the ROV JASON on the same cruise
Galeommatoidea: A bivalve superfamily with diverse symbioses and some deep-sea species.
1BV1: This galeommatoid larva was collected at Black Ridge in the South Atlantic Bight between 1,950-1,600 meters deep.
991BV12, 398BV10: Larvae of this species were collected near the Barbados Accretionary Prism in surface waters (375-0 meters).
232BV4: This larva was collected near the Barbados Accretionary Prism from 3,650-3,300 meters deep.
19BV6: This larva was collected at Cape Fear Diapir in the South Atlantic Bight from 2,450-2,300 meters deep.
Corbiculidae: A family of bivalve clams.
Pinnidae: A family of bivalve clams characterized by long triangular shells.
2957BV14: This pinnid larva was collected near the Barbados Accretionary Prism in surface waters (200-10 meters deep).
2122BV8: This larva was collected in surface waters (200-10 meters deep) near the Barbados Accretionary Prism.
Nuculanoidea: A superfamily of protobranch bivalves.
Based on COI (above) and 18S sequence data, these two individuals are protobranch bivlaves, however their species-level identity is currently unknown. Protobranch species for which development is known all produce planktonic lecithotrophic pericalymma larvae, which are characterized by a ciliated test covering the larval shell (see Zardus and Martel 2002, Atlas of Marine Invertebrate Larvae). Are these individuals the first examples of protobranch veliger larvae or drifting juveniles?
407BV3: This individual was collected near the Barbados Accretionary Prism between 2,300-1,900 meters deep.
182BV3: This individual was collected near the Barbados Accretionary Prism between 1,950-1,600 meters deep.