The Nematode Fauna in the Sulphide‐Rich Brine Seep and Adjacent Bottoms of the East Flower Garden, NW Gulf of Mexico. I Chromadorida

Abstract

Sixteen nematode species of the order Chromadorida are described from the East Flower Garden at 72 m depth in the north‐western Gulf of Mexico. The material is from sandy bottom samples influenced or beyond the influence of a sulphide‐rich brine seep. Fifteen species are new to science: Acantholaimus quadridentatus sp.n., Prochromadorella papillata sp.n., Austranema mexicanum sp.n., Rhips anoxybiotica sp.n., Filitonchoides thiobioticus gen. et sp.n., Paracyatholaimus spinulaosus sp.n., Marylynnia punctata sp.n., Marylynnia johanseni sp.n., Acanthopharyngoides bidentatus sp.n., Desmodora (Croconema)punctata sp.n., Desmodora (Desmodora) curvispiculum sp.n., Desmodora (Pseudochromadora) bulbosa sp.n., Chromaspirinia longisetosa sp.n., Prochaetosoma brighti sp.n. and Ixonema powelli sp.n. A specimen of Bathyepsilonema is also described and is probably new to science, but the available material only includes a female.