First record of the doliolid genus Paradoliopsis in the Pacific Ocean

Abstract

A doliolid species belonging to the genus Paradoliopsis was photographed by an Autonomous Visual Plankton Recorder (AVPR) off the eastern seaboard of Japan in October 2014 at 493–512 m depth. Two Paradoliopsis gonozooids were also captured on the video record of the ROV Crambon at 372–373 m depth during the same cruise. This is the first record of this genus from the Pacific Ocean, and although it resembles the sole described species in this genus, P. harbisoni Godeaux, 1996, some aspects of its morphology suggest it may be an as-yet-undescribed species.