Jones, Meredith Leam. (1981). Riftia pachyptila, new genus, new species, the vestimentiferan worm from the Galápagos Rift geothermal vents (Pogonophora). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 93(4): 1295-1313.
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Jones, Meredith Leam
1981
<i>Riftia pachyptila</i>, new genus, new species, the vestimentiferan worm from the Gal�pagos Rift geothermal vents (Pogonophora).
Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington
Riftia pachyptila, new genus, new species, is described from geothermal vents of the Galápagos Rift and from a geothermal area on the East Pacific Rise at 21°N. These vestimentiferan worms represent a new family, Riftiidae, in a new subphylum, Obturata, in the phylum Pogonophora. Differentiation from the two other vestimentiferan species is at the familial level and concerns the orientation of tentacular lamellae on the obturaculum, the number of openings of excretory ducts, and the relative lengths of certain body regions. A most curious structure, the trophosome, occupies much of the trunk region and is essentially a vascularized, bacteria filled sac; it is also the site of deposition of crystals of elemental sulfur.
