Background The deep-sea biome (> 200 m depth) is the world’s last great wilderness, covering more than 65% of the earth’s surface. Due to rapid technological advances, deep-sea environments are becoming more accessible to scientific research and ocean exploration around the world and, in recent years, this is also true for the Galapagos Islands. Deep-sea habitats cover the largest proportion of Galapagos Marine Reserve (GMR), yet to date, no comprehensive baseline exists on the biodiversity of the benthic fauna associated with volcanic seafloor formations within this region. Closing this knowledge gap is essential to provide information for decision-making for the management of marine resources within the GMR and assessing any potential changes in biodiversity resulting from climate-driven alterations that deep-sea environments are expected to experience. In 2015, the Charles Darwin Foundation’s Seamounts of the GMR Research Project, together with the Galapagos National Park Directorate (GNPD) and Ocean Exploration Trust (OET), conducted a joint expedition on board the EV Nautilus. Using Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), the aim of the expedition was to characterise the geological formations and biological communities present on seamounts, lava flows and other deep-sea habitats (> 200 m) within the GMR. New information We provide the first comprehensive image inventory for the phylum Arthropoda from 260 to 3400 m of depth within the GMR. Past studies on deep-sea macroinvertebrates in the GMR have been limited to voucher samples collected from dredging (restricted to soft bottom environments) or by submersibles (only allowing limited biological sampling). The image inventory, presented here, is based on high-definition video transects conducted by the Hercules ROV on board the EV Nautilus. Images of macroinvertebrate morphospecies were captured, catalogued and identified, thus providing the first known image inventory of in-situ macroinvertebrate species from the deep-sea region of the GMR. We present 32 distinct morphospecies occurrences within the class Malacostraca and order Decapoda. We also report 17 different families, three species that are new records to the GMR, in-situ images of two new species to science recently described and one possible new squat lobster, as well as interesting behavioural observations.

中文翻译：

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节肢动物; 甲壳类动物；热带东太平洋加拉帕戈斯海洋保护区深海火山栖息地的十足目动物

背景 深海生物群落（> 200 m 深度）是世界上最后一个大荒野，覆盖了地球表面的 65% 以上。由于技术的快速进步，世界各地的科学研究和海洋探索越来越容易进入深海环境，近年来，加拉帕戈斯群岛也是如此。深海栖息地覆盖了加拉帕戈斯海洋保护区 (GMR) 的最大比例，但迄今为止，该区域内与火山海底形成相关的底栖动物群的生物多样性还没有全面的基线。弥合这一知识差距对于为 GMR 内海洋资源管理的决策提供信息以及评估因气候驱动的深海环境预计将经历的变化而导致的生物多样性的任何潜在变化至关重要。2015 年，查尔斯达尔文基金会的 GMR 研究项目的海山与加拉帕戈斯国家公园管理局 (GNPD) 和海洋勘探信托基金 (OET) 在 EV Nautilus 上进行了联合考察。使用遥控车辆 (ROV)，探险的目的是描述 GMR 内海山、熔岩流和其他深海栖息地 (> 200 m) 上的地质构造和生物群落。新信息 我们为 GMR 内 260 至 3400 m 深度的节肢动物门提供了第一个全面的图像清单。过去对 GMR 深海大型无脊椎动物的研究仅限于从疏浚（仅限于软底环境）或潜水器（仅允许有限的生物取样）收集的凭证样本。此处提供的图像清单基于 EV Nautilus 上的 Hercules ROV 进行的高清视频横断面。捕获、编目和识别大型无脊椎动物形态物种的图像，从而提供第一个已知的来自 GMR 深海区域的原位大型无脊椎动物物种的图像清单。我们在 Malacostraca 类和十足目目中展示了 32 种不同的形态物种。我们还报告了 17 个不同的家庭，