Preliminary in situ observations of the archibenthal megafauna on the continental slope of the Atacama Trench off Peninsula de Mejillones, Northern Chile
The deep-sea fauna of the southeastern Pacific remains vastly understudied, particularly along the northern coast of Chile, a transitional zone influenced by both Peruvian and subtropical ecosystems. During the Schmidt Ocean Institute's FKT240425 expedition aboard the R/V Falkor (too), conducted systematic deep-sea ROV surveys between 1816 and 4504 m depth off the Peninsula de Mejillones, Chile. The study reports new in situ records and significant range extensions for about one hundred species. A total of 79 macroinvertebrate samples were collected using the ROV SuBastian. The preliminary analysis of groups such as Arthropoda, Echinodermata, Decapoda, Mollusca, and Porifera indicates the potential presence of at least 35 new species. The preliminary conclusions of the observed and collected material are presented here, with comments about the taxonomic status of each one. Thus, this research cruise has contributed the most up-to-date records to the biodiversity of the Atacama Trench.
Authors
- Andrew G. Palmer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6506-5292)
- M. Victoria Moreno‐Arribas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4136-595X)
- Armando Azúa-Bustos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6590-4145)
- Walter Sielfeld (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7055-5015)
- Alexis Gacitúa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5635-7189)
- Mara Laguna-Castro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2237-1403)
- Jacek Wierzchoś (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3084-3837)
- Karolina Rivera-Osorio
- Olga Prieto-Ballesteros
- Victoria Baca
- L. Sánchez-García
- Daniel Carrizo
- Antonio Molina
- Isabel Herreros
- Cristian Vargas
- Nikolaos Schizas
- Javier Sanchez_España
- Carlos Gonzalez-Silva
- Guillermo Leandro Guzman
- Muriel Rivera
- Katlyn Chubric
- Amber Wu
Institutions
- Florida Institute of Technology (US)
- Pennsylvania State University (US)
- University of Tarapacá (CL)
- Instituto Profesional Alemán Wilhelm von Humboldt (CL)
- Universidad del Mar (CL)
- Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (ES)
- Centro de Astrobiología (ES)
- Instituto de Fomento Pesquero (CL)
- University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez (PR)
- Georgia Gwinnett College (US)
- College of Marin (US)
- Arturo Prat University (CL)
Publication Details
- Published
- 2026-04-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3897/arphapreprints.e193865
- Primary Topic
- Marine Biology and Ecology Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00