A framework for the development of a global standardised marine taxon reference image database (SMarTaR-ID) to support image-based analyses

Video and image data are regularly used in the field of benthic ecology to document biodiversity. However, their use is subject to a number of challenges, principally the identification of taxa within the images without associated physical specimens. The challenge of applying traditional taxonomic keys to the identification of fauna from images has led to the development of personal, group, or institution level reference image catalogues of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) or morphospecies. Lack of standardisation among these reference catalogues has led to problems with observer bias and the inability to combine datasets across studies. In addition, lack of a common reference standard is stifling efforts in the application of artificial intelligence to taxon identification. Using the North Atlantic deep sea as a case study, we propose a database structure to facilitate standardisation of morphospecies image catalogues between research groups and support future use in multiple front-end applications. We also propose a framework for coordination of international efforts to develop reference guides for the identification of marine species from images. The proposed structure maps to the Darwin Core standard to allow integration with existing databases. We suggest a management framework where high-level taxonomic groups are curated by a regional team, consisting of both end users and taxonomic experts. We identify a mechanism by which overall quality of data within a common reference guide could be raised over the next decade. Finally, we discuss the role of a common reference standard in advancing marine ecology and supporting sustainable use of this ecosystem

Environmental Controls and Anthropogenic Impacts on Deep-Sea Sponge Grounds in the Faroe-Shetland Channel, NE Atlantic: the Importance of Considering Spatial Scale to Distinguish Drivers of Change

Determining the scale of anthropogenic impacts is critical in order to understand ecosystem effects of human activities, within the context of changes caused by natural environmental variability. We applied spatial eigenfunction analysis to disentangle effects of anthropogenic drivers from environmental factors on species assembly in the Faroe-Shetland Channel (FSC), in the northeast Atlantic. We found that the species assembly considered here was structured at both small and large spatial scales. Specifically, substrate types, distance to oil wells and pipelines, the presence of objects and demersal fishing (both static and mobile) appeared significant in explaining large spatial scale species assembly structures. Conversely, temperature and variance in temperature shaped the species community across smaller spatial scales. Mobile scavenger species were found in areas impacted by demersal fishing. Oil and gas structures seemed to provide a habitat for a range of species including the commercially important fishes Molva sp. and Sebastes sp. These results demonstrate how the benthic ecosystem in the FSC has been shaped by multiple human activities, at both small and large spatial scales. Only by sampling datasets covering several sites, like in this study, can the effects of anthropogenic activities be separated from natural environmental controls

An approach for the identification of exemplar sites for scaling up targeted field observations of benthic biogeochemistry in heterogeneous environments

Continental shelf sediments are globally important for biogeochemical activity. Quantification of shelf-scale stocks and fluxes of carbon and nutrients requires the extrapolation of observations made at limited points in space and time. The procedure for selecting exemplar sites to form the basis of this up-scaling is discussed in relation to a UK-funded research programme investigating biogeochemistry in shelf seas. A three-step selection process is proposed in which (1) a target area representative of UK shelf sediment heterogeneity is selected, (2) the target area is assessed for spatial heterogeneity in sediment and habitat type, bed and water column structure and hydrodynamic forcing, and (3) study sites are selected within this target area encompassing the range of spatial heterogeneity required to address key scientific questions regarding shelf scale biogeochemistry, and minimise confounding variables. This led to the selection of four sites within the Celtic Sea that are significantly different in terms of their sediment, bed structure, and macrofaunal, meiofaunal and microbial community structures and diversity, but have minimal variations in water depth, tidal and wave magnitudes and directions, temperature and salinity. They form the basis of a research cruise programme of observation, sampling and experimentation encompassing the spring bloom cycle. Typical variation in key biogeochemical, sediment, biological and hydrodynamic parameters over a pre to post bloom period are presented, with a discussion of anthropogenic influences in the region. This methodology ensures the best likelihood of site-specific work being useful for up-scaling activities, increasing our understanding of benthic biogeochemistry at the UK-shelf scale

Enhancing CNC Manufacturing Interoperability with Step-NC

Despite substantial improvements CNC manufacturing is still based on dated practices and habits. This is mostly due to the use of ISO 6983 standard (G-codes) combined with vendor specific formats to exchange CAD/CAM/ CNC information. The manufacturing sector is consequently made of a collection of disconnected elements that are difficult to make communicate together. On the contrary STEP-NC approach offers many opportunities to overtake the current situation and rethink CAD/CAM/CNC numerical chains. However, the actual integration of STEP-NC in industrial concerns is quite limited. It is essential to couple this innovative approach with existing equipments. This paper shows how STEP-NC can be an efficient way to reconcile today's interoperability and efficiency demands by introducing the association of two manufacturing platforms: SPAIM, developed at IRCCyN (France), and which controls current industrial machine tools directly from STEP-NC files and IIMP from the University of Auckland (New Zealand), which realizes data portability between heterogeneous proprietary formats, process interoperability. As a result, both approaches lead to improved supervision and integration of the machining systems

An eXtended Manufacturing Integrated System for feature-based manufacturing with STEP-NC

Computer Numerical Control (CNC) feature-based programming with STandard for the Exchange of Product data model-compliant Numerical Control extends the collaborative model of manufacturing data exchange all along the numerical data chain. This study considers the mutations related to this approach from the manufacturing system level to the industrial enterprise as a whole. The eXtended Manufacturing Integrated System concept is introduced to fill in the gap of the current manufacturing data exchange bottleneck. It is composed of eXtended Computer Aided Design (CAD) and eXtended CNC systems to link the CAD model to the real machined part through the Manufacturing Information Pipeline. The contributions associated with these concepts are demonstrated through a validation platform implemented on industrial CNC manufacturing equipments.X111113sciescopu

Towards a cax-framework for adaptive programming using generic process blocks for manufacturing

Over the last years the aerospace industry demands for increasingly complex process chains, as worn, high-value parts have to be repaired and resources have to be used more efficiently. To cope with this growing complexity, tool support ist required for different reasons. The process chains have to be layed out, the knowledge of the processes has to be captured and should be easily available. Furthermore, process chains evolve over time and it should be possible to use the research results to optimize in-use process chains. In this paper it is shown how the function block approach can be extended by "Generic Process Blocks for Manufacturing" (GPBM) in order to meet these requirements for offline adaptive process chains. For this, GPBM introduces a new placeholder function block which supports the reuse and exchange of already modeled process chains. In addition, a case study discusses how this approach can help to transfer a process chain originally designed for tip repair of a single gas-turbine airfoil to a blade integrated disk (BLISK) and how the corresponding process chain knowledge can be stored in a common place

A Resource Virtualization Mechanism for Cloud Manufacturing Systems

Part 2: Full PapersInternational audienceVirtualization is critical for resource sharing and dynamic allocation in cloud manufacturing, a new service-oriented networked collaborative manufacturing model. In this paper, an effective method is proposed for manufacturing resources & capabilities virtualization, which contains manufacturing resources modeling and manufacturing cloud services encapsulation. A manufacturing resource virtual description model is built, which includes both nonfunctional and functional features of manufacturing resources. The model provides a comprehensive manufacturing resource view and information for various manufacturing applications. The OWL-S is adapted to an upper level ontology model, according to which manufacturing resources & capabilities are encapsulated into manufacturing cloud service. The proposed method is applied to the virtualization process of an aerospace company. Effectiveness and efficiency are illustrated for the manufacturing cloud services discovery and management

Prionospio Malmgren 1867

<i>Prionospio</i> Malmgren, 1867Published as part of <i>Paterson, Gordon L. J., Neal, Lenka, Altamira, Iris, Soto, Eulogio H., Smith, Craig R., Menot, Lenaick, Billett, David S. M., Cunha, Marina R., Marchais-Laguionie, Claire & Glover, Adrian G., 2016, New Prionospio and Aurospio Species from the Deep Sea (Annelida: Polychaeta) in Zootaxa 4092 (1)</i> on page 4, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4092.1.1, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/259914">http://zenodo.org/record/259914</a&gt

Prionospio hermesia Paterson, Neal, Altamira, Soto, Smith, Menot, Billett, Cunha, Marchais-Laguionie & Glover, 2016, sp. nov.

<i>Prionospio hermesia</i> sp. nov. Neal & Paterson <p>(Figures 1, 2.4, 6, 8f, Table 2)</p> <p> <b>Material examined:</b> 9 specimens examined in total.</p> <p> <b>Holotype</b>: Setúbal canyon, RSS <i>Charles Darwin</i> 179, April–May 2006, St. 56804#6, 38º 09.26 N, 9º. 36.94 W, 3275 m (NHMUK 2015:1041).</p> <p> <b>Paratypes.</b> <i>Nazaré canyon,</i> RSS <i>Discovery</i> 297, August 2005, St. 15760#1, 39º 30.02 N, 09º 56.17 W, 3465 m, 2 individuals; St. 15762#1, 39º 30.02 N, 09º 56.22 W, 3464 m, 1 individual; St. 15758#2, 39º 34.94 N, 10º 19.00 W, 4332 m, 1 individual.</p> <p> <i>Nazaré canyon,</i> RSS Charles Darwin 179, April/ May 2006, St. 56851#1, 39º29.99’ N, 9º55.97’ W, 3517m, 2 individuals.</p> <p> <i>Setúbal canyon</i>, RSS <i>Charles Darwin</i> 179, April/ May 2006, St. 56816#1, 38º09.27’ N, 9.36.94’W, 3275m, 1 individual.</p> <p> <i>Cascais canyon,</i> RSS <i>Charles Darwin</i> 179, April/ May 2006, St.56821#2, 38º17.97’ N, 9º46.89’ W, 3214m, 1 individual.</p> <p>Diagnostic features. Two pairs of branchiae; lack of sabre chaetae; hooded hooks bi- or tridentate.</p> <p>Description. Very small and slender species, holotype incomplete with 53 chaetigers, measuring 5.65 mm long and 0.08 mm wide at chaetiger 1. Colour in alcohol pale yellow. Body narrow and cylindrical, of uniform width throughout. Prostomium oval, anteriorly slightly rounded, prostomial margin entire, prostomial peaks absent, posteriorly elongated into short blunt caruncle, extending to anterior of chaetiger 1 (Fig. 6 a–b); eyes not observed. Peristomium well developed, ventrally and laterally distinct, dorsally partially fused to chaetiger 1, forming a collar around prostomium, without forming distinct lateral wings.</p> <p>Branchiae 2 pairs, on chaetigers 2 and 3, both pairs apinnate with surface smooth to slightly wrinkled (Fig. 6 a,b); first pair longest, very slender, cylindrical, at least twice the length of corresponding notopodial lamellae, inserted laterally to the base of notopodial lamellae, but not connected to it (Fig 6 a); second pair short, about half the length of corresponding notopodial lamellae and one-third the length of first branchial pair, attached near the base of notopodial lamellae (Fig.2.4b).</p> <p>Notopodial lamellae on chaetiger 1 not developed; lamellae small, subquadrangular on chaetiger 2; lamellae greatly enlarged on chaetiger 3, subtriangular, the distal tip bent and pointed to the midline of the dorsum (Fig.2.4b), in subsequent chaetigers notopodial lamellae reducing in size, becoming rounded. Dorsal chests from chaetiger 8 (Fig. 6 c) to approximately chaetiger 25.</p> <p>Neuropodial lamellae on chaetiger 1 not developed, thereafter well developed if small and rounded on all segments, with the exception of chaetiger 3, on which they are shifted dorsally (Fig. 2.4), enlarged (at least twice the size of neuropodial lamellae on other segments), oar-shaped, sometimes extending from body horizontally.</p> <p>Capillary chaetae particularly dense in anterior region, arranged in two rows in both noto- and neuropodia, capillaries in anterior row very long capillaries in posterior row shorter, all lightly granulated, limbate. Sabre chaetae absent. Neuropodial hooded hooks present from chaetiger 13 in holotype, from chaetiger 14 in other specimens, often only single hooks present at first but up to seven hooks per fascicle in subsequent chaetigers; primary hood rounded, tightly follows the head of the hooks, secondary hood present and well developed; some hooks bidentate with large main fang and smaller secondary tooth, others appear to be multidentate (at least tridentate) with main fang and at least two smaller teeth above, arranged in a single row. Notopodial hooks present singly from chaetiger 48. Pygidium unknown.</p> <p> <b>Methyl green pattern:</b> The anterior half of prostomium and peristomium stain strongly, the margins of the notopodial and neuropodial lamellae on chaetigers 4–14 stain less intensely.</p> <p> <b>Remarks.</b> The distinguishing feature of this species is that it has only two pairs of branchiae. This species has affinities with <i>Prionospio branchilucida</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> and <i>P. kaplani</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> from abyssal plains. Lack of sabre chaetae is unusual, but was encountered in all three species (<i>P. hermesia</i> <b>sp. nov.</b>, P. <i>branchilucida</i> <b>sp. nov.</b>, and <i>P. kaplani</i> <b>sp. nov.</b>). Further similarity with <i>Prionospio kaplani</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> is that it also possesses a combination of bidentate and multidentate hooks (1+3 combination), and these hooks also appear to be flattened in SEM images (unlike the chunky, more inflated style of hooks in other <i>Prionospio</i> species). In both species dorsal crests begin on segment 8, but only a single pair of very short branchiae on the second chaetiger was found in <i>P kaplani</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> compared with in <i>P. hermesia</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> <i>Prionospio branchilucida</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> has a prostomium similar to that of <i>P. hermesia</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> and has similar branchiae on the second chaetiger, but at least three pairs of branchiae were confirmed to be present in <i>P. branchilucida</i> <b>sp. nov.</b>, hooks appear to be more like the usual shape found in <i>Prionospio</i> in SEM images, and the dorsal crests begin after chaetiger 8.</p> <p> <b>Etymology.</b> <i>P. hermesia</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> named after the research programme HERMES.</p> <p> <b>Distribution.</b> <i>P. hermesia</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> has been recorded from the Nazaré, Setúbal and Cascais canyons of the Portuguese margin at depths of 3214–4364 m.</p>Published as part of <i>Paterson, Gordon L. J., Neal, Lenka, Altamira, Iris, Soto, Eulogio H., Smith, Craig R., Menot, Lenaick, Billett, David S. M., Cunha, Marina R., Marchais-Laguionie, Claire & Glover, Adrian G., 2016, New Prionospio and Aurospio Species from the Deep Sea (Annelida: Polychaeta) in Zootaxa 4092 (1)</i> on pages 13-15, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4092.1.1, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/259914">http://zenodo.org/record/259914</a&gt

Prionospio vallensis Paterson, Neal, Altamira, Soto, Smith, Menot, Billett, Cunha, Marchais-Laguionie & Glover, 2016, sp. nov.

<i>Prionospio vallensis</i> sp. nov. Neal & Paterson <p>(Figures 1, 2.2, 4, 8g)</p> <p> <i>Prionospio</i> sp G Curdia <i>et al.</i> 2004:</p> <p> <i>Prionospio</i> sp A Paterson <i>et al.</i> 2011: 2453</p> <p> <b>Material examined:</b> 1035 specimens examined.</p> <p> <b>Holotype:</b> RRS <i>Charles Darwin,</i> cruise 179 April–May 2006, Setúbal canyon St. 56859#1, 39°35.58’N 10°20.00’W 4418m, megacore (NHMUK 2015:1040).</p> <p> <b>Paratypes</b>: <i>Portuguese margin canyon: Nazaré canyon</i> RRS Discovery 297 August 2005, St.15755#1 39º30.62’N 09°56.19’W 3461m, 175 individuals; St.15760#1 39º30.02’N 09°56.17’W 3465m, 54 individuals; St.15762#1 39º30.02’N 09°56.22’W 3464m, 103 individuals; St.15758#2 39º34.94’N 10°19.00’W 4332m, 26 individuals; St. 15758#6 39º34.99’N 10°19.00’W 4335m, 65 individuals; St.15765#2 39º35.00’N 10°19.04’W 4336m, 39 individuals.</p> <p> RRS <i>Charles Darwin</i> 179, April/ May 2006, St. 56847#6 39°35.57’N 10°19.99’W 4403m, 33 individuals; St. 56847#7 39° 35.55’N 10° 20.06’W 4404m 33 individuals; St. 56851#1 39° 29.99’N 09° 55.97’W 3517m, 36 individuals; St. 56851#2 39°29.99’N 09°56.01’W 3517m, 76 individuals; St.56856#1 39° 29.95’N 09° 56.00’W 3519m, 40 individuals; St. 56856#2 39°30.00’N 09° 55.98’W 3522m 49 individuals; St. 56859#1 39°35.58’N 10°20.00’W 4418m, 37 individuals; St. 56861#1 39°35.57’N 10°20.02’W 4404m, 44 individuals.</p> <p> <i>Setúbal canyon:</i> RRS <i>Charles Darwin</i> 179 April/ May 2006, St. 56804#5 38°09.27’N 09°36.93’W 3275m, 75 individuals; St. 56804#6 38°09.26’N 09°36.94’W 3275m, 48 individuals; St. 56806#1 38°09.29’N 09°36.96’W 3275m, 60 individuals; St. 56810#1 38°09.22’N 09°37.02’W 3224m, 23 individuals; St. 56816#1 38°09.27’N 09°36.94’W 3275m, 37 individuals.</p> <p> <i>Cascais canyon</i>: RRS <i>Charles Darwin</i> 179 April/ May 2006, St. 56821#1 38°17.96’N 09°46.87’W 3219m, 1 individual; St. 56823#2 38°18.01’N 09°47.02’W 3218m, 2 individuals; St. 56823#3 38°17.99’N 09°47.07’W 3219m, 2 individual; St. 56828#1 38°18.02’N 09°46.98’W 3199m, 3 individuals; St. 56837#7 38.3748° -9.8920°, 4243 m, 3 individuals.</p> <p> <b>Other material studied</b>: <i>Prionospio laciniosa</i> Maciolek, 1985; paratypes (USNM 67674-75). <b>Diagnostic features.</b> Wrinkled branchiae on chaetigers 2 and 5, rectangular prostomium, dorsal crests from chaetiger 6 extending to beyond chaetiger 20, distal ends of proximal dorsal lamellae bent toward the mid-line and produced into slender tips.</p> <p> <b>Description.</b> A small and slender species, holotype complete with 65 chaetigers, measuring 12.4 mm long and 0.25 mm wide at chaetiger 1. Colour in alcohol pale yellow. Prostomium rectangular for about 2/3 of length, then tapering into caruncle reaching to anterior margin of chaetiger 2; posterior portion surrounded by heavily ciliated nuchal organs (Fig. 4 a); anterior margin truncated (Fig.4), prostomial peaks absent; eyes absent (1 pair of colourless eyes present in some specimens, positioned on prostomium just before caruncle, best observed on stained specimens). Peristomium well developed ventrally, forming distinct lateral wings; chaetiger 1 reduced, dorsally fused to peristomium.</p> <p>Branchiae present on chaetigers 2–5, 4 pairs, all apinnate, but wrinkled (Fig.4 b,c). First pair longest, reaching to the anterior margin of chaetiger 8, approximately six times longer than the corresponding notopodial lamellae, distinctly wrinkled with deep grooves, thickened at the base, then cylindrical, tapering into blunt tip (in some specimens the first pair rather slender, still wrinkled but without deep grooves, possibly regenerating), heavily ciliated; pair 4 similar to pair 1 but shorter, by a ratio of 1:4, approximately four times longer than the corresponding notopodial lamellae; pairs 2 and 3 short and heavily ciliated, only slightly longer than notopodial lamellae, with wrinkled surface, fleshy and triangular, wider at base and tapering distally, both pairs are partially covered by enlarged notopodial lamellae; all branchiae free from notopodial lamellae, positioned laterally and slightly posteriorly in relation to inner edge of notopodial lamellae (branchial pairs 1 and 4 easily lost and missing in majority of specimens).</p> <p>Notopodial lamellae on chaetiger 1 well developed (Fig.2.2a), rounded with very produced tip pointed dorsally; lamellae largest on branchial segments, particularly on chaetigers 3 and 4, subtriangular and somewhat bent, with tips pointing to the midline of dorsum (Fig.2.2 b,c), notopodial lamellae on chaetiger 6 becoming smaller; from chaetiger 7 lamellae small, triangular, pointed distally, often bent, in mid-body segments becoming low, globular (Fig.2.2d). Distinct dorsal crests present from chaetiger 6 and on subsequent chaetigers (Fig. 4 a) to beyond chaetiger 20. Interparapodial pouches absent.</p> <p>Neuropodial lamellae largest in branchial segments; small and rounded in chaetiger 1, neuropodia of chaetiger 2 square-shaped, similar in shape but with distinct tip pointing dorsally on chaetiger 3 (Fig. 2.2), in chaetigers 4 and 5 tip not protruded, lamellae square to slightly rounded in shape; from chaetiger 6 becoming small (low rising) and distinctly globular (Fig. 1.2d).</p> <p>Anterior chaetae all capillaries, granulated, forming dense fascicles, arranged in two rows in both noto- and neuropodia, neuropodial capillaries become long in middle and posterior segments reaching over 4–5 chaetigers in length. Sabre chaetae first occur in neuropodia of chaetiger 10, up to two per fascicle, robust, curved, heavily granulated. Neuropodial hooks first occur on chaetiger 12 but occasionally start from chaetiger 13, up to eight per fascicle; primary hood inflated and somewhat rectangular in shape, secondary hood present and well developed; each hook with six pairs of smaller teeth sequentially reduced in size above the main fang. Notopodial hooks appear around segment 45 (holotype damaged in this section, all other specimens examined were incomplete and notopodial hooks not observed), two per fascicle, long and slender.</p> <p>Pygidium conical, without any appendages, but these might have been lost.</p> <p> <b>Methyl green pattern.</b> The borders of prostomium, including caruncle, peristomium, and dorsal crests on segments 12–20 stain strongly.</p> <p> <b>Remarks.</b> <i>Prionospio vallensis</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> is characterised by wrinkled branchiae on segments 2 and 5. <i>Prionospio fauchaldi</i> and <i>P. laciniosa</i>, both described by Maciolek, 1985, also possess wrinkled branchiae. <i>Prionospio fauchaldi</i> is recorded from the West Atlantic, SE coast of Africa in 530–4950 m and in the western Pacific in approximately 2500 to 3000 m (Blake et al. 2009), and <i>P. laciniosa</i> is recorded from the west coast of Africa at 527– 542m. <i>Prionospio vallensis</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> further resembles <i>P. fauchaldi</i> by having a similar shape of prostomium and peristomium, with sabre chaetae and neuropodial hooks starting in the same segments. The major differences are that in <i>P. fauchaldi</i> the first and fourth pair of branchiae are of the same length, while the first pair is longer than fourth in <i>P. vallensis</i> <b>sp. nov.</b>; sabre chaetae are slender in <i>P. fauchaldi</i> but robust in <i>P. vallensis</i> <b>sp. nov.</b>; and <i>P. fauchaldi</i> possesses extremely long capillaries on the third chaetiger, but these are lacking in <i>P. vallensis</i> <b>sp. nov.</b></p> <p> <i>Prionospio vallensis</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> is most similar to <i>P. laciniosa</i>, which also has the first wrinkled pair of branchiae longer than the fourth, but differs from <i>P. vallensis</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> in having a triangular rather than rectangular prostomium and presence of distinct dorsal flaps, which were not seen in <i>P. vallensis</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> The dorsal crests in <i>P. laciniosa</i> are present only on chaetigers 5–13 while in <i>P. vallensis</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> they start on chaetiger 6 and continue beyond chaetiger 20. The shape of notopodial lamellae of the branchial region is also different, whilst subtriangular in both species, the distal ends are bent and directed to the middle and extend into slender tips in <i>P. vallensis</i> <b>sp. nov.</b>, whereas in <i>P. laciniosa</i> this bend is less prominent and the tips are more robust. The sabre chaetae in <i>P. vallensis</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> are more robust and shorter than in <i>P. laciniosa</i>. The specimens of both species were of similar size, therefore these differences, particularly presence/absence of dorsal flaps are unlikely to be of result of different developmental stages.</p> <p> <b>Etymology.</b> <i>vallensis</i> from the Latin <i>valles</i>, meaning valley, the closest Latin expression for canyon.</p> <p> <b>Ecology.</b> <i>P. vallensis</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> was previously recorded from Setúbal canyon at 3400 m during the RRS <i>Discovery</i> cruise 186 in 1989; although not formally described, it was recorded as Spionidae H. It was the second most abundant species in that study. Examination of photographs of polychaete specimens collected in 1999 during OMEX II from Nazaré canyon and reported by Curdia <i>et al.</i> (2004) as <i>Prionospio</i> sp. G is likely to be <i>Prionospio vallensis</i>. It was reported as the most abundant macrofaunal species at 3514 m and 4141 m.</p> <p> <i>Prionospio vallensis</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> was the single most abundant polychaete in Portuguese canyons, achieving densities of 784 ind./m 2 in Setúbal canyon (3400 m) and up to 918 ind./m 2 in Nazaré canyon (3400 m) (Cunha <i>et al.</i> 2011; Paterson <i>et al.</i> 2011). The difference in the abundance between our study and previous ones may be a reflection of different sampling design used during <i>RRS Discovery</i> cruise186, where macrofauna was sieved on 300-micron mesh. However, it was not present in Portuguese canyon samples collected at 1000 m or on the Tagus Abyssal Plain, which is adjacent to Setúbal and Cascais canyons. It is possible that this is a deep canyon “specialist” able to utilize the organically enriched sediments found within the canyon (compared to similar noncanyon depths) and/or rapidly occupy sediments following frequent disturbances, which occur within canyons. Data from previous studies in these canyons (Gage <i>et al.</i> 1995; Curdia <i>et al.</i> 2004) suggest that <i>P. vall ensis</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> has been able to maintain high-density populations in Portuguese canyons on more than a decadal timescale (sampling in 1989, 1999, 2005, 2006).</p> <p> <b>Distribution.</b> Nazaré, Setúbal, and Cascais canyons along the Portuguese margin, 3199–4419 m.</p>Published as part of <i>Paterson, Gordon L. J., Neal, Lenka, Altamira, Iris, Soto, Eulogio H., Smith, Craig R., Menot, Lenaick, Billett, David S. M., Cunha, Marina R., Marchais-Laguionie, Claire & Glover, Adrian G., 2016, New Prionospio and Aurospio Species from the Deep Sea (Annelida: Polychaeta) in Zootaxa 4092 (1)</i> on pages 8-11, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4092.1.1, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/259914">http://zenodo.org/record/259914</a&gt