Winners: Name a New Deep-Sea Worm

Both new species are part of the family Hesionidae, in the phylum Annelida. The scientific team has determined that one worm belongs to the established genus Vrijenhoekia and another to the established genus Podarkeopsis. The public is choosing the second part of an animals Latin name, known as the species epithet.
 
Hesionids are beautiful worms that live on the bottom of the ocean. They are named after Hesione, the mythical princess of Troy who was rescued from a sea monster by Hercules. They vary in size from a few millimeters to several centimeters.

Most hesionids live in warm shallow water, with only 10 having been described from the deep sea. Until now, only one species – Vrijenhoekia balaenophila – has been described from whale falls (whale carcasses that have fallen to the ocean floor). This research study has identified six new species of deep-sea Hesionidae living on whale falls off Monterey, California.

DNA testing has confirmed the worms are new species. In addition to DNA, certain features or physical traits look different from other species. Key physical traits used to determine if Hesionids are different species include their prostomium, or heads, and parapodia, or “feet.”  Scientists are still learning about what they eat, how they reproduce, or even how old our collected worms are.

Worm #1: Public contest(anyone can enter)

Vrijenhoekia (species name here)

This worm was found on "Ruby", a whale fall at 2,893 meters beneath the surface – the deepest whale fall in this study. It looks very similar to Vrijenhoekia balaenophila, but is much smaller and has two obvious morphological differences: a median antenna and a smooth proboscis (an elongated appendage from the head).

Worm #2: K-12 contest (schools/classrooms only)

Podarkeopsis (species name here)

This worm was found at 1,018 meters deep on "Francisco", a whale fall lying in the oxygen minimum zone of Monterey Bay. Podarkeopsis looks very similar to other members of its genus (there are 13 in total) but this is the first species found in the deep sea. This animal is one-of-kind to scientists, as, to the best of our knowledge, only one specimen has ever been collected. After it was collected, "Francisco" (the whale fall) degraded and was covered by sediment before scientists could return to look for more worms.

• Mindi Summers, Scripps graduate student
• Greg Rouse, Scripps marine biologist
• Fredrik Pleijel, University of Gothenburg marine ecologist
• Bob Vrijenhoek, Monterey Bay research institute senior scientist

Whale Falls

Scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), with help from Scripps researchers, have been studying whale falls since 2002. When whales die and fall to the seafloor, a unique community of marine animals can form around the carcass, providing a lot of food for the deep sea.

Since it is extremely difficult to find a natural whale fall in the mostly unexplored deep sea, scientists have sunk dead whales found on California beaches to create artificial whale falls. By studying whale falls, scientists have identified new species such as the bone-eating Osedax worms, studied the behavior of deep sea creatures, explored how carbon is recycled on our planet, and investigated how life has adapted the deep sea environment. More info.

Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs)

Whale falls and other deep-sea habitats present a unique challenge to scientists as the cold temperature and high pressures make traveling to the deep sea very difficult. One way that scientists can explore the deep sea is by using a special piece of equipment called an ROV, or a remotely operated vehicle, to record video, take pictures, and collect organisms. The hesionid worms featured here were collected using the ROV Tiburon and Doc Rickett’s special suction sampler, which is a kind of "slurp gun." It sucks animals into a plastic canister to bring them back to shore. More info.

Naming a species is the exciting culmination of a lot of effort and collaboration, in many cases years of work. Some of the new species being described here were first discovered in whale falls in 2004.

International guidelines exist for how to describe and name a new species.  According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, the species must be given a Latin binomial – a name consisting of two parts (a genus term and a species term) – and an official description must be published in scientific literature.

Naming Guidelines

The species name or binomen is made up of two parts, Genusname speciesname. Both are italicized when written out. The scientific team has determined that one worm belongs to the established genus Vrijenhoekia and another to the established genus Podarkeopsis. The public is now choosing the second part, known as the species epithet. For more information about animal classification, visit here.

A species name must be in Latin. The name may be formed from a Latin word, a Latinized word (one that has been given a Latin ending), a word in another language that uses the Latin alphabet, a word in a language using another alphabet that has been transliterated into Latin, or even a nonsense word composed from an arbitrary combination of letters.

A species name can contain no diacritical marks (accent marks, apostrophes) and must be more than one letter long.

The binomial must be unique to that species.

The species epithet must agree in gender with the genus term. No entry will be disqualified for that reason, but we encourage you to suggest names that match the gender, feminine for Vrijenhoekia, masculine for Podarkeopsis. We may have to adjust the ending of submitted names to fit with these rules. Please feel free to look over the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) for more assistance with Latin.

When naming a new species, an etymology (the meaning and origin of the name) should be provided. Please tell us what your new species name means, why you chose it, and how you composed it.

Scientists usually use geographic, descriptive, commemorative, or even nonsense words to form a new species name. Names do not need to be direct Latin translations.  Take a look at some of these creative names to get you started!
 
Agra sasquatch (a beetle with big feet)
Apolysis humbugi (a fly from Humbug Creek, California)
Leonardo davincii (moth)
Polemistus chewbacca (wasp)
Ba humbugi (snail)