Peer Aquatic Biology
Info
On the wreck of the USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, between Western Sambo Reef and Sand Key in the Florida Keys, USA, scientists discovered a new worm snail at a depth of 29 meters.
The largest length of the individual adult shell mass attached to the wreck is usually 20–25 mm;
Habitat and ecology:
Thylacodes vandyensis lives on substrate (mainly shells of living and dead Spondylus) in areas exposed to currents on the superstructure, hull and railings of the wreck, which they share with the mussels Arca zebra (Swainson, 1833), Acar sp. [“domingensis” by the authors], Barbatia candida (Helbling, 1779) [all Arcidae]; Pinctada imbricata Röding, 1798 [Pteriidae]; Isognomon radiatus (Anton, 1838) [Isognomonidae]; Ctenoides mitis (Lamarck, 1807) [Limidae]; Lindapecten muscosus (Wood, 1828) [Pectinidae]; Anomia sp. [Anomiidae]; Dendostrea frons (Linnaeus, 1758) [Ostreidae]; Spondylus ambiguus Chenu, 18 443; Spondylidae]; Gastrochaena sp. [Gastrochaenidae]; Chama macerophylla Gmelin, 1791, and Chama sp. [Chamidae]; the orange tube coral Tubastraea coccinea; the red crust sponge Mycale sp. (Demospongiae: Poecilosclerida: Mycalidae); and various other invertebrates not yet identified.
Thylacodes vandyensis shoots out chemically enriched mucus nets to catch nutrients.
Color:
Overall light to reddish-brown, with gnarled portions of the ribs, especially in the flange area of the thicker shells of the adult whorls, lighter.
Etymology:
The specific name “vandyensis” was given after the wreck of the “Vandy”, the nickname given by the diving community to the USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, a decommissioned Navy ship that was sunk to serve as an artificial reef off the lower Florida Keys.
Literature reference:
Bieler et al. (2017), Non-native molluscan colonizers on deliberately placed shipwrecks in the Florida Keys, with
description of a new species of potentially invasive worm-snail (Gastropoda: Vermetidae).
PeerJ 5:e3158; DOI 10.7717/peerj.315
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
The largest length of the individual adult shell mass attached to the wreck is usually 20–25 mm;
Habitat and ecology:
Thylacodes vandyensis lives on substrate (mainly shells of living and dead Spondylus) in areas exposed to currents on the superstructure, hull and railings of the wreck, which they share with the mussels Arca zebra (Swainson, 1833), Acar sp. [“domingensis” by the authors], Barbatia candida (Helbling, 1779) [all Arcidae]; Pinctada imbricata Röding, 1798 [Pteriidae]; Isognomon radiatus (Anton, 1838) [Isognomonidae]; Ctenoides mitis (Lamarck, 1807) [Limidae]; Lindapecten muscosus (Wood, 1828) [Pectinidae]; Anomia sp. [Anomiidae]; Dendostrea frons (Linnaeus, 1758) [Ostreidae]; Spondylus ambiguus Chenu, 18 443; Spondylidae]; Gastrochaena sp. [Gastrochaenidae]; Chama macerophylla Gmelin, 1791, and Chama sp. [Chamidae]; the orange tube coral Tubastraea coccinea; the red crust sponge Mycale sp. (Demospongiae: Poecilosclerida: Mycalidae); and various other invertebrates not yet identified.
Thylacodes vandyensis shoots out chemically enriched mucus nets to catch nutrients.
Color:
Overall light to reddish-brown, with gnarled portions of the ribs, especially in the flange area of the thicker shells of the adult whorls, lighter.
Etymology:
The specific name “vandyensis” was given after the wreck of the “Vandy”, the nickname given by the diving community to the USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, a decommissioned Navy ship that was sunk to serve as an artificial reef off the lower Florida Keys.
Literature reference:
Bieler et al. (2017), Non-native molluscan colonizers on deliberately placed shipwrecks in the Florida Keys, with
description of a new species of potentially invasive worm-snail (Gastropoda: Vermetidae).
PeerJ 5:e3158; DOI 10.7717/peerj.315
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
