Deep-sea areas characterized by the presence of polymetallic nodules are getting increased attention due to their potential commercial and strategic interest for metals such as nickel, copper and cobalt. The polymetallic nodules occur in areas beyond national jurisdiction, regulated by the International Seabed Authority (ISA). Under exploration contracts, contractors have the obligation to determine the environmental baseline in the exploration areas. Despite a large number of scientific cruises to the central east Pacific Ocean, few published data on the macrofaunal biodiversity and community structure are available for the abyssal fields of the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCFZ). This study focused on the macrofaunal abundance, diversity and community structure in three physically comparable, mineable sites located in the license area of Global Sea Mineral Resources N.V., at ~ 4500 m depth. A homogeneous but diverse macrofaunal community associated with the sediment from polymetallic nodule areas was observed at a scale of 10s to 100s of km. However, slight differences in the abundance and diversity of Polychaeta between sites can be explained by a decline in the estimated flux of particulate organic carbon (POC) along a southeast-northwest gradient, as well as by small differences in sediment characteristics and nodule abundance. The observed homogeneity in the macrofaunal community is an important prerequisite for assigning areas for impact and preservation reference zones. However, a precautionary approach regarding mining activities is recommended, awaiting further research during the exploration phase on environmental factors structuring macrofaunal communities in the CCFZ. For instance, future studies should consider habitat heterogeneity, which was previously shown to structure macrofauna communities at larger spatial scales. Acknowledging the limited sampling in the current study, a large fraction (59-85%; depending on the richness estimator used and the macrofaunal taxon of interest) of the macrofaunal genus/species diversity from the habitat under study was characterized.

This paper is the conclusion of the “Spaghetti Project” aiming to revise French species of Terebellidae sensu lato (s.l.) belonging to the five families: Polycirridae, Telothelepodidae, Terebellidae sensu stricto (s.s.), Thelepodidae and Trichobranchidae. During this project, 41 species were observed, 31 of them new for science: eight species of Polycirridae, eleven species of Terebellidae s.s., three species of Thelepodidae and nine species of Trichobranchidae. We provide a comprehensive key for all European species of terebellids with a focus on the important diagnostic characters for each family. Finally, we discuss issues on taxonomy, biodiversity and cryptic and pseudo-cryptic species of polychaetes in European waters, based on results obtained during this project.

In the abyssal equatorial Pacific Ocean, most of the seafloor of the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCFZ), a 6 million km² polymetallic nodule province, has been preempted for future mining. In light of the large environmental footprint that mining would leave and given the diversity and the vulnerability of the abyssal fauna, the International Seabed Authority has implemented a regional management plan that includes the creation of nine Areas of Particular Environmental Interest (APEIs) located at the periphery of the CCFZ. The scientific principles for the design of the APEIs were based on the best – albeit very limited – knowledge of the area. The fauna and habitats in the APEIs are unknown, as are species' ranges and the extent of biodiversity across the CCFZ. As part of the Joint Programming Initiative Healthy and Productive Seas and Oceans (JPI Oceans) pilot action “Ecological aspects of deep-sea mining”, the SO239 cruise provided data to improve species inventories, determine species ranges, identify the drivers of beta diversity patterns and assess the representativeness of an APEI. Four exploration contract areas and an APEI (APEI no. 3) were sampled along a gradient of sea surface primary productivity that spanned a distance of 1440 km in the eastern CCFZ. Between three and eight quantitative box cores (0.25 m²; 0–10 cm) were sampled in each study area, resulting in a large collection of polychaetes that were morphologically and molecularly (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I and 16S genes) analyzed. A total of 275 polychaete morphospecies were identified. Only one morphospecies was shared among all five study areas and 49 % were singletons. The patterns in community structure and composition were mainly attributed to variations in organic carbon fluxes to the seafloor at the regional scale and nodule density at the local scale, thus supporting the main assumptions underlying the design of the APEIs. However, the APEI no. 3, which is located in an oligotrophic province and separated from the CCFZ by the Clarion Fracture Zone, showed the lowest densities, lowest diversity, and a very low and distant independent similarity in community composition compared to the contract areas, thus questioning the representativeness and the appropriateness of APEI no. 3 to meet its purpose of diversity preservation. Among the four exploration contracts, which belong to a mesotrophic province, the distance decay of similarity provided a species turnover of 0.04 species km⁻¹, an average species range of 25 km and an extrapolated richness of up to 240 000 polychaete species in the CCFZ. By contrast, nonparametric estimators of diversity predict a regional richness of up to 498 species. Both estimates are biased by the high frequency of singletons in the dataset, which likely result from under-sampling and merely reflect our level of uncertainty. The assessment of potential risks and scales of biodiversity loss due to nodule mining thus requires an appropriate inventory of species richness in the CCFZ.

A new species of Eunicidae, Marphysa victori sp. n., has been identified from Arcachon Bay, Bay of Biscay, NE Atlantic. This new species, belonging to the sanguinea complex, is characterised by branchiae with long filaments from chaetigers 26–34, the presence of four types of pectinate chaetae with first ones present from chaetiger 2, a large number of both pectinate chaetae and compound spinigers, and the pygidium with only one pair of pygidial cirri. An identification key for European species of the genus Marphysa is provided.