02.03.2013 (Saturday).

Fog and sea rather rough. Agassiz trawl late in the morning, on a rich sponge bottom at 460-480 m. We get a good catch of amphipods, amongst which the gorgeous Bathypanoploea schellenbergi. We also get a ten-legged species of ophiurids (something I had never seen before). I intended to photograph it but the specimens, which I kept for that purpose have been discarded before I could do it. So, sorry no pictures of them. Since the Agassiz trawl was very successful, I order to leave the dredge for 20 minutes on the sea floor (which is a long time for it). It comes up full of black muddy sand and gravel. We get beautiful gorgonians (for Pablo López-Gonzalez) and urchins in perfect condition, which make the delight of the 'urchin team' (Bruno David, Chantal De Ridder and Philippe Dubois), a lot of small stones with colonies of bryozoans, which are supposed to be studied by Hans De Blauwe (external scientific collaborator to our Institute in Brussels). As concerns amphipods, we get one undescribed Melitidae, which is known for years by amphipodologists but which has not been described so far. It is usually referred under the informal name "Antamelita". Not a common species; this is the first time I see a living specimen of it. Tomorrow morning we are supposed to have a dredge at 05:30 and to deploy the traps for the second time. A lot of things to finish in a hurry, as I want to sleep enough to be functional tomorrow. Finishing the sorting of the specimens from the dredge, putting order in our lab, fixing a new flagpole on lander, de-freezing the fishes (the bait); fixing the nuts on the bolts of the ballast system. Job finished at 22:22.

Bathypanoploea schellenbergi. Body length about 30 mm.

"Antamelita". Body length about 20 mm.

(Cédric)