Records of the deep-sea amphipod genus Eurythenes in the World's Oceans with mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence information

Eurythenes gryllus, a giant deep-sea amphipod crustacean, was until recently considered a cosmopolitan species occurring along a depth gradient of more than 7000m. Genetic studies based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA revealed the existence of at least 14 distinct species-level lineages, of which five have been (re-)described: E. andhakarae d'Udekem d'Acoz and Havermans 2015, E. maldoror d'Udekem d'Acoz and Havermans 2015, E. sigmiferus d'Udekem d'Acoz and Havermans 2015, E. magellanicus (H. Milne Edwards 1848) and E. gryllus (Lichtenstein in Mandt, 1822) s.s. (d'Udekem d'Acoz and Havermans 2015). Several Eurythenes species show overlapping distributions; most species are widespread, whilst others show distributions restricted to a single trench or seamount (Havermans, 2016). Based on current sampling records, Eurythenes gryllus s.s. has an amphitropical or bipolar distribution restricted to bathyal depths in the Arctic and Southern Ocean. Three described species have been reported from the Southern Ocean (E. maldoror, E. gryllus s.s. and E. andhakarae), as well as one undescribed bathyal lineage found in the Weddell Sea.Sampling records and DNA sequence information on the currently described species are presented here.