Lepetodrilus sp. East Scotia Ridge

'Lepetodrilus'' sp. East Scotia Ridge''' (nomen nudum) is an as yet undescribed species of small, deep-sea sea snail, a hydrothermal vent limpet, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Lepetodrilidae.

The first information about this species, under the name "Lepetodrilus n. sp.", was published on 3 January 2012.



Distribution
This species is known from two sites near hydrothermal vents in the East Scotia Ridge: from 2,394 m depth at the E9 vent site, and from 2,608 m depth at the E2 site.

Description
Phylogenetic analysis of the mitochondrial cytochrome-c oxidase I (COI) gene of this limpet (GenBank accession number JN628254) and a range of other Lepetodrilus species, using Bayesian inference, places this species from East Scotia Ridge as a sister taxon to Lepetodrilus atlanticus, with a sequence divergence from this species of 5.48%. This level of genetic divergence is consistent with that found between Lepetodrilus species within complexes of sister taxa, where interspecific distances of between 3% and 15% have been observed.

Ecology
This species is ubiquitous in low-temperature diffuse flow, being found on bare rock, sulphides, Kiwa sp., gastropods Gigantopelta chessoia, and stalked barnacles. On the carapace of Kiwa n. sp., a "halo" of pale colouration surrounding the limpets indicates where this species of Lepetodrilus is grazing epizoic microbes.

The population density of Lepetodrilus sp. on the barnacles Vulcanolepas scotiaensis was estimated to 20,172–56,904 individuals m−2.