11 records
This large species was first described as a Euconchoecia species, but was classified as a Bathyconchoecia species by Deevey (1968) when she established the genus. The type locality is Goldseeker station 53 at 59°36’N, 7°W at a depth of 1140m. Since then it has turned up intermittently in either bottom nets or nets towed in the benthopelagic zone within 25m of the seabed at depths of 725-3980m. It known geographical range at present extends from 9°S to 59°N and recently it has been collected in the Mediterranean in deep slope waters off Barcelona. Males are unusual in that there is a deep cleft in the rostrum on both valves. There appear to be two sizes with the smaller form occurring in more oceanic regions and often in midwater (Discovery stations 9756#6 and 9131#18). Scott’s original sample included two males, a female and 2 juveniles but he only gave a length of 4.9mm for one of the males. A typically sized male was also collected in a net deployed from the French submersible Archimede at a depth of 2400-2450m off the Azores.
All | n | Mean mm | s.d. | Range mm |
---|---|---|---|---|
Female typical | 2 | 5.0-5.4 | ||
Female small | 1 | 3.36 | ||
Male typical | 3 | 4.7-4.9 | ||
Male small | 1 | 2.76 | ||