Polychaete dataset of the southwestern Gulf of Mexico including: taxonomic checklist, abundance, bathymetric distribution, functional diversity, geographic location, and sampling sites depth.

A taxonomic list of 69 genera belonging to 33 families of the Polychaeta class (Annelida) collected in 54 deepwater sites of the southwestern Gulf of Mexico is presented. Abundance data of these 69 genera is also included. A dataset of geographical location and depth of sampling sites is given. Graphs of depth related community functional diversity variation are shown. The biological material was obtained from sediment samples collected aboard the Justo Sierra Oceanographic Vessel of the National Autonomous University of Mexico using a Reineck-type box corer with an effective area of 0.16 m2. In each core a subsample of 0.08 m2 and 13 cm deep was taken and washed through a 500-micron sieve with filtered seawater. Abundances were standardized to individuals per square meter. The average abundance contribution percentage graphs were done calculating the average standardized abundance of each guild and the contribution percentage of each one to the four depth categories established: Upper bathyal zone (UBZ); middle bathyal zone (MBZ); lower bathyal zone (LBZ) and abyssal zone (ABYZ). These data could be useful for comparative purposes with new data of polychaete communities in the same area or another region.

Specifications Table

Value of the Data

These data are new, unique and may serve as a basis for further studies in the Gulf of Mexico. Diversity and ecological studies on a poorly studied area like this is of outmost importance and usefulness for future deep-sea research in the region. Data is of great importance since polychaetes, functional traits, and macrofauna in general, in this deep sea area is scarce and knowledge is necessary for understanding the deep sea ecosystem.

Researchers, students, and stakeholders interested in the ecology, biodiversity, and resilience of deep-sea benthic communities of the Gulf of Mexico will have the opportunity to use this data as baseline for planning further studies and assessing potential impacts due to human actions. Even more, this data can be useful to enhance knowledge and function of deep-sea communities in other parts of the world

These data can complement larger data sets on the same taxon (Polychaeta) or on other taxa of the deep sea macrofauna in the Gulf of Mexico or elsewhere. It can be used on studies to relate with other fauna categories like meiofauna or megafauna of the region. It could be useful to make comparisons with scientific research in other areas and integrate a global knowledge of the deep sea.

Data Description

Figure 1 shows the contribution percentage of the three general feeding guilds (macrophages in red, microphages in blue, and omnivores in green) recorded in the study area for each of the established depth categories (upper bathyal, middle bathyal, lower bathyal and abyssal). The four bars represent one hundred percent of the abundance recorded in its corresponding depth category and the length of the segment of each color determines the percentage contribution of each trophic guild.

Figure 2 shows the percentage contribution of the eight specific feeding guilds (carnivores/scavengers in red; subsurface deposit feeders in aqua green; suspension feeders in black; surface deposit feeders / subsurface deposit feeders in grey; surface deposit feeders / suspension feeders in pink, surface deposit feeders in green, detritivores in yellow, and omnivores in blue) recorded in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico for each of the established depth categories (upper bathyal, middle bathyal, lower bathyal and abyssal). The four bars represents one hundred percent of the abundance recorded in its corresponding depth category and the length of the segment of each color determines the percentage contribution of each trophic guild.

This graph shows the contribution percentage of the three motility traits (discretely motile in blue, motile in red and sessile in yellow) recorded in the study area in each of the four established depth categories (upper bathyal, middle bathyal, lower bathyal, and abyssal). The four bars represent one hundred percent of the recorded abundance in its corresponding depth category and the length of the segment of each color determines the contribution percentage of each motility trait.

This file presents a taxonomic checklist of the 33 families and 69 genera of polychaetes identified at 54 deep-water sites in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. This list also contains the name of the taxonomic authority and the year of description for each taxon.

Dataset 1. Polychaeta standardized abundance.

This dataset includes standardized abundance data of 69 polychaetes genera recorded at 54 deep-water sites in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. Abundance values were standardized to individuals per square meter.

Dataset 2. Sampling sites geographic location and depth data

Geographic and bathymetric data set of the sampling sites. The list includes the name, geographic coordinates and depth recorded at each of the 54 sampling sites.

Experimental Design, Materials and Methods

Sampling and sample processing

The biological material was obtained along two cruises carried out on board the Oceanographic Vessel Justo Sierra of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. The samples were collected using a Reineck-type box corer with an effective area of 0.16 m2. Once the corer was on deck at each sampling site, a 0.08 m2 subsample was taken and washed on board through a 500-micrometer mesh sieve with previously filtered seawater. The result of this sieving was fixed with a mixture of seawater and 8% formalin. In the laboratory, the samples were washed with tap water through a 500-micrometer mesh sieve to remove the residue of the used fixative. The extraction of the polychaetes specimens was carried out placing the sediment of each sample in Petri dishes of 15 cm in diameter in small volumes until the sample was finished. To visualize the specimens, an AVEN Mighty Vue Pro 5D ESD magnifying lamp (2.25X magnification) was used. The specimens were separated using fine-tipped tweezers and placed in vials with 70% alcohol.

Taxonomic checklist

The taxonomic identification was done observing the specimens in Petri dishes of 5 cm in diameter with water under a Zeiss Stemi 508 stereoscopic microscope (maximum magnification 50x). When it was necessary, the specimens (or a dissected portion) were mounted on a slide with a drop of a 70% alcohol-glycerol mixture and a coverslip and were observed with a Zeiss Primo Star optic microscope. Some specimens were temporary stained with Methylene Blue or Shirlastain-A to highlight structures of taxonomic importance. General [2], [3], [4] and specialized literature [5], [6], [7], [8] was used. The validation of the names of families, genera, and taxonomic authorities, as well as the year of description of each taxon, was carried out using the WoRMS match taxa tool [9].

Abundance Matrix

In the original study design, 63 sampling sites were considered, however, for logistical reasons, sediment samples were only collected at 60 sites during each of the two oceanographic cruises that constitute this data set. Polychaetes identified at the genus level were collected at 38 sampling sites in SOGOM 1 and 46 in SOGOM 2. The abundance matrix was constructed adding the numbers recorded in both cruises. Thirty common sites in both cruises registered polychaetes identified at genus level. Twenty-four locations only presented polychaetes identified at genus level in one of the two cruises (8 in SOGOM 1 and 16 in SOGOM 2). This made a total of 54 sites with polychaetes identified at genus level. The sites were renamed in a scale order from one to 54 consecutively. The standardization of abundance (individuals per square meter) was done based on the number of each polychaete genus in each site. Genus number of a single cruise location was divided by 0.08, whereas data of the two cruises were added and the result was divided by 0.16.

Depth Categories

Four depth categories were determined according to the literature [10,11], and bathymetry of the Gulf of Mexico. These categories were: upper bathyal zone (185 -1000 m); middle bathyal zone (1001 -2000 m); lower bathyal zone (2001 -3000 m), and abyssal zone (3000 – 3760 m). The depth of each sampling site was recorded using the ship multibeam echosounder EM302, and the geographical location with the ship GPS at the time the corer got to the bottom. The depth of the sites with a single fauna record in one of the two cruises was the recorded in the data sampling sites set. An average depth was calculated for sites with data of the two cruises. Each of the 54 sites was assigned to one of the four established depth categories. Thus, 9 sites were classified into the upper bathyal zone, 11 sites in the middle bathyal zone, 16 sites in the lower bathyal zone and 18 sites in the abyssal one, Table 1.

Table 1

Taxonomic list of genera and families identified in the deep sea from the southwestern Gulf of México.

Phylum Annelida Lamarck, 1802

Class Polychaeta Grube, 1850

Subclass Errantia Audouin & H Milne Edwards, 1832

Order Amphinomida

Family Amphinomidae Lamarck, 1818

Genus Paramphinome M. Sars in G. Sars, 1872

Order Eunicida

Family Lumbrineridae Schmarda, 1861

Genus Abyssoninoe Orensanz, 1990

Genus Augeneria Monro, 1930

Genus Lumbrinerides Orensanz, 1973

Genus Lumbrineris Blainville, 1828

Family Onuphidae Kinberg, 1865

Genus Paradiopatra Ehlers, 1887

Order Phyllodocida Dales, 1962

Family Glyceridae Grube, 1850

Genus Glycera Grube, 1850

Family Goniadidae Kinberg, 1866

Genus Goniada Audouin & H Milne Edwards, 1833

Genus Goniadides Hartmann-Schröder, 1960

Genus Progoniada Hartman, 1965

Family Hesionidae Grube, 1850

Genus Hesiocaeca Hartman, 1965

Genus Syllidia Quatrefages, 1865

Family Nephtyidae Grube, 1850

Genus Aglaophamus Kinberg, 1866

Genus Nephtys Cuvier, 1817

Family Nereididae Blainville, 1818

Genus Ceratocephale Malmgren, 1867

Family Paralacydoniidae Pettibone, 1963

Genus Paralacydonia Fauvel, 1913

Family Phyllodocidae Örsted, 1843

Genus Eteone Savigny, 1822

Family Pilargidae Saint-Joseph, 1899

Genus Ancistrosyllis McIntosh, 1878

Genus Litocorsa Pearson, 1970

Genus Sigambra Müller, 1858

Family Sigalionidae Kinberg, 1856

Genus Pholoides Pruvot, 1895

Family Syllidae Grube, 1850

Genus Exogone Örsted, 1845

Genus Pionosyllis Malmgren, 1867

Subclass Sedentaria Lamarck, 1850

Infraclass Canalipalpata Rouse & Fauchald, 1997

Order Sabellida Levinsen, 1883

Family Sabellidae Latreille, 1825

Genus Euchone Malmgren, 1866

Order Spionida Rouse & Fauchald, 1997

Family Spionidae Grube, 1850

Genus Aonides Claparède, 1864

Genus Dispio Hartman, 1951

Genus Laonice Malmgren, 1867

Genus Malacoceros Quatrefages, 1843

Genus Paraprionospio Caullery, 1914

Genus Prionospio Malmgren, 1867

Genus Spiophanes Grube, 1860

Family Longosomatidae Hartman, 1944

Genus Heterospio Ehlers, 1874

Family Poecilochaetidae Hannerz, 1956

Genus Poecilochaetus Claparède in Ehlers, 1875

Family Trochochaetidae Pettibone, 1963

Genus Trochochaeta Levinsen, 1884

Order Terebellida Rouse & Fauchald, 1997

Family Ampharetidae Malmgren, 1866

Genus Ampharete Malmgren, 1866

Genus Amphicteis Grube, 1850

Genus Auchenoplax Ehlers, 1887

Genus Eclysippe Eliason, 1955

Family Cirratulidae Ryckholt, 1851

Genus Aphelochaeta Blake, 1991

Genus Chaetozone Malmgren, 1867

Genus Kirkegaardia Blake, 2016

Family Fauveliopsidae Hartman, 1971

Genus Laubieriopsis Petersen, 2000

Family Flabelligeridae de Saint-Joseph, 1894

Genus Bradabyssa Hartman, 1967

Genus Diplocirrus Haase, 1915

Family Sternaspidae Carus, 1863

Genus Caulleryaspis Sendall & Salazar-Vallejo, 2013

Genus Sternaspis Otto, 1820

Family Trichobranchidae Malmgren, 1866

Genus Terebellides Sars, 1835

Infraclass Scolecida Rouse & Fauchald, 2001

Family Capitellidae Grube, 1862

Genus Mediomastus Hartman, 1944

Genus Neoheteromastus Hartman, 1960

Genus Neomediomastus Hartman, 1969

Genus Notomastus M. Sars, 1851

Genus Paraleiocapitella M. Sars, 1851

Family Cossuridae Day, 1963

Genus Cossura Webster & Benedict, 1887

Family Magelonidae Cunningham & Ramage, 1888

Genus Magelona F. Müller, 1858

Family Maldanidae Malmgren, 1867

Genus Sabaco Kinberg, 1866

Family Opheliidae Malmgren, 1867

Genus Ammotrypanella McIntosh, 1878

Genus Ophelia Savigny, 1822

Genus Ophelina Örsted, 1843

Genus Tachytrypane McIntosh <i>in</i> Jeffreys, 1876

Family Orbiniidae Hartman, 1942

Genus Califia Hartman, 1957

Genus Scoloplos Blainville, 1828

Family Paraonidae Cerruti, 1909

Genus Aricidea Webster, 1879

Genus Cirrophorus Ehlers, 1908

Genus Levinsenia Mesnil, 1987

Genus Paradoneis Hartman, 1965

Genus Paraonides Cerruti, 1909

Family Scalibregmatidae Malmgren, 1867

Genus Asclerocheilus Ashworth, 1901

Genus Pseudoscalibregma Ashworth, 1901

Family Travisiidae Hartmann-Schröder, 1971

Genus Travisia Johnston, 1840

Stacked bar graphs

The assignment of Polychaeta genera to the feeding guilds was carried out following the proposal of Jumars et al. (2015) [12]. The elaboration of the 100% stacked bar graphs, was done based on the feeding guilds, and motility traits average and subsequently the percentage contribution of each biological trait to the depth categories. Based on this relative abundance matrix, the 100% stacked bar graphs were generated using the STATISTICA 7 software, (Figs. 1, 2, 3).

Fig. 1

General feeding guilds contribution percentage to average abundance in each depth category. The letters meaning in the acronym are I = microphages; A = macrophages, and O = omnivores. Upper bathyal zone (UBZ); middle bathyal zone (MBZ); lower bathyal zone (LBZ) and abyssal zone (ABYZ).

Fig. 2

Specific feeding guilds contribution percentage to average abundance in each depth category. The letters meaning in the acronym are B = subsurface deposit feeders; S = surface deposit feeders; F = suspension feeders; O = omnivores, D = detritivores, and C = carnivores/scavengers. Upper bathyal zone (UBZ); middle bathyal zone (MBZ); lower bathyal zone (LBZ) and abyssal zone (ABYZ).

Fig. 3

Motility traits percentage contribution to average abundance in each depth category. The letters meaning in the acronym are M = motile; D = discretely motile, and S = sessile. Upper bathyal zone (UBZ); middle bathyal zone (MBZ); lower bathyal zone (LBZ) and abyssal zone (ABYZ).

Ethics Statements

The authors declare that the manuscript adheres to Ethics publishing standards.

CRediT Author Statement

Octavio Quintanar-Retama: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Investigation, Data curation, Writing – original draft, and visualization. Ana Rosa Vázquez-Bader: conceptualization, methodology, and writing – Review & editing. Adolfo Gracia: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Resources, Writing – Review & editing, Supervision, Project Administration, and Founding acquisition.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Subject	Biological Sciences (Biodiversity)
Specific subject area	This dataset provides information about the polychaete biodiversity and ecology of the southwestern deep sea of the Gulf of Mexico.
Type of data	TableFigure
How the data were acquired	The biological material was obtained in two cruises carried out on board the Oceanographic Vessel Justo Sierra of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. The samples were collected using a Reineck-type box corer with an effective area of 0.16 m2. Once the corer was on deck, subsamples of 0.08 m2 were taken, which were washed on board through a 500-micrometer mesh sieve with previously filtered seawater. The sieved material was fixed with a mixture of seawater and 8% formalin. In the laboratory, specimens were separated from the sediment using an AVEN Mighty Vue Pro 5D ESD magnifying lamp (2.25X magnification) and fine-tipped tweezers. The specimens were kept in vials with 70% alcohol. Subsequently, the polychaetes, whose preservation status allowed it, were identified at the genus level and individuals number were included in the abundance matrix. Taxonomic identification at the genus level was performed using a Zeiss Stemi 508 stereoscopic microscope (maximum magnification 50X) and a Zeiss Primo Star microscope in addition to specialized literature. The assignment to a trophic guild was after the taxonomic identification and was carried out using specialized literature. The sampling sites geographical location, and depth was registered with ship GPS, and multibeam echosounder, respectively.
Data format	Analyzed
Description of data collection	Two oceanographic cruises based on a systematic sampling design with 63 locations were conducted in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. The first cruise was carried out on June 3- 27, 2015. Due to logistical reasons, sediment samples were only collected at 60 sites. Biological material of seventeen samples (not included in this data set) was lost before the genus-level identification of the polychaetes was achieved. Polychaetes were not obtained in two locations, besides three samples with organisms no identified at the genus level were not included in the abundance matrix, resulting in 38 sites in the first cruise. The second cruise was carried out on August 31- September 20, 2016. Sediment samples were successful at 60 sites. Polychaetes could not be identified at the genus level in nine locations and were not collected in five sites, so they were not included in the analysis. This resulted in 46 sites with polychaetes identified at the genus level in the second cruise. A common abundance matrix for both cruises was elaborated. In those sites where it was possible to register and identify polychaetes at genus level in both cruises, the organism numbers were summed and standardized to individuals per square meter. In those locations with a single record of any of the cruises, the data was just added to the abundance matrix. In this way a total of 54 sites with polychaetes identified at the genus level were recorded for both cruises. The sites were renamed from one to 54 consecutively. The geographical location and depth were registered with ship GPS and multibeam echosounder EM302, respectively, at the time the corer reached bottom.
Data source location	• Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México • Southern Gulf of Mexico • México Site Longitude W Latitude N• 1  93.4971  18.9898 • 2  94.0183  19.0093 • 3  94.5077  18.7427 • 4  94.9991  18.8284 • 5  95.5017  19.0283 • 6  94.9799  19.1478 • 7  93.516  19.5089 • 8  94.0166  19.5116 • 9  94.5069  19.5128 • 10  94.9963  19.4969 • 11  95.5051  19.4992 • 12  96.0114  19.5083 • 13  96.0051  20.0064 • 14  95.5155  20.0012 • 15  94.5154  19.9996 • 16  94.0306  20.0211 • 17  93.0128  20.0034 • 18  92.5696  20.5033 • 19  93.5075  20.4969 • 20  94.5185  20.4991 • 21  95.0113  20.4901 • 22  95.5111  20.4937 • 23  96.0123  20.5099 • 24  96.5006  20.403 • 25  96.5102  20.5161 • 26  96.0053  21.0042 • 27  95.0197  20.985 • 28  94.4945  20.9801 • 29  93.9818  21.0018 • 30  93.0018  21.0129 • 31  92.6268  21.5039 • 32  93.5061  21.5138 • 33  94.5227  21.4989 • 34  95.0251  21.4773 • 35  96.0152  21.5038 • 36  96.512  21.5155 • 37  96.512  22.0091 • 38  96.0245  22.018 • 39  95.0248  21.9997 • 40  94.5235  22.0033 • 41  94.0463  21.9861 • 42  93.5309  22.4993 • 43  94.0283  22.5098 • 44  94.4936  22.5017 • 45  94.983  22.4916 • 46  95.5217  22.4997 • 47  96.01  22.5054 • 48  96.5036  22.5009 • 49  96.0146  23.0109 • 50  95.5151  22.9864 • 51  95.0153  22.992 • 52  94.5171  23.0055 • 53  94.0106  23.0215 • 54  93.0106  22.9984
Data accessibility	Mendeley dataData identification number: https://doi.org/10.17632/bz8dr9cjpt.2Direct URL to data: https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/bz8dr9cjpt/2
Related research article	For an article which has been accepted and is in press:Quintanar-Retama, O., Armenteros, M., Gracia, A., Diversity and distribution patterns of macrofauna polychaetes (Annelida) in deep waters of the Southwestern Gulf of Mexico, Deep-Sea Research Part I, 181 (2022), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2022.103699. [1].