Abstract
Four specimens of the unusual hemichordate larva Planctosphaera sp., previously known only from the North Atlantic Ocean were collected by midwater trawl from depths of 75 to 500 m near the Hawaiian Islands in May 1974 and in September 1977 and 1982. The anatomy of the Pacific specimens is indistinguishable from published descriptions of those from the Atlantic. The distribution of known specimens of planctosphaera in subsurface or deeper waters in both major ocean systems of the world suggests that they are larvae of a widely distributed species, perhaps from abyssal depths.
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Communicated by N. D. Holland, La Jolla
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Hadfield, M.G., Young, R.E. Planctosphaera (Hemichordata: Enteropneusta) in the Pacific Ocean. Mar. Biol. 73, 151–153 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00406882
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00406882