New species of Anguillosyllis Day, 1963 (Annelida, Syllidae) from polymetallic nodule exploration areas, eastern Clarion-Clipperton Zone, central Pacific Ocean

The benthic annelid fauna of polymetallic nodule fields in the eastern Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), abyssal Central Pacific has recently been the subject of taxonomic investigations aiming to document the biodiversity of this region. While annelids are abundant and diverse within the CCZ, particularly high diversity was discovered within the syllid genus Anguillosyllis Day, 1963 from material collected during environmental surveys targeting exploration contract areas ‘UK-1’, ‘OMS’ and ‘NORI-D’, as well as Area of Particular Environmental Interest, ‘APEI-6’. From the total Anguillosyllis material examined (134 specimens), 37 specimens were amenable to the formalization of three new species: Anguillosyllis dalgleishae sp. nov., A. finnelli sp. nov., and A. villarae sp. nov. Prior to this study, 20 species of Anguillosyllis were known worldwide and only two species were known from the CCZ – A. truebloodi Maciolek, 2020 and A. hessleri Maciolek, 2020.