Discovery of Pogonophora in warm shallow waters of the Florida Shelf

Abstract

A new small species of Siboglinum has been found in sediments of sub-tropical waters off southwest Florida, at 24 to 90 m depth, where bottom temperatures range from 17 to 26 degree C. This is unexpectedly warm for a pogonophoran. The phylum in general is mostly deep sea except for a few species that reach shelf depths in cold boreal or arctic regions. The new find suggests Pogonophora may be more widely distributed than previously thought.