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Dr. Chong CHEN

Dr. Chong CHEN

Deep-sea biologist. Malacologist. Evolutionary biologist. "Mollusc collector", photographer.

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Gallery of Publications

A new paper lead-authored by myself has been published today in Molluscan Research today ( http://bit.ly/Chen2016a )! The paper describeds a new species of Desbruyeresia (Gastropoda: Provannidae), Desbruyeresia chamorrensis Chen, Ogura & Okutani in Chen et al., 2016. The family Provannidae is only known from chemosynthetic ecosystems, and genus Desbruyeresia was so far restricted to hydrothermal vents. The present new species, however, was discovered from an alkaline serpentinite-hosted seep more than 2900m deep on the South Chamorro Seamount (13°47’N, 146°00’E), southeastern Mariana Forearc. It is a deposit feeder and only three specimens have been collected so far. It is distinguished from all other described congeners by having much more numerous (17–20) axial ribs on the teleoconch and a broad shell for the genus (shell width to height ratio 0.6–0.65). It was a great pleasure working with the eminent Japanese malacologist Prof. Takashi Okutani during the course of this project. Please let me know if you would like a copy in PDF :)<br /> <br /> Chen C, Ogura T, Hirayama H, Watanabe HK, Miyazki J, Okutani T (2016). First seep-dwelling Desbruyeresia (Gastropoda: Abyssochrysoidea) species discovered from a serpentinite-hosted seep in the southeastern Mariana Forearc. Molluscan Research. DOI:10.1080/13235818.2016.1172547
New lead-authored paper published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society! This is the description of a brand new genus of large deep-sea hydrothermal vent snail, Gigantopelta. Two new species are described, G. chessoia from the Antarctic vents in the East Scotia Ridge and G. aegis from the Southwest Indian Ridge. Both are from bathyal depths exceeding -2500m, and are powered by chemosynthetic endosymbiont bacteria housed in the esophageal gland. They belong to the "hot-vent" family Peltospiridae in the clade Neomphalina, and being even larger (slightly, up to 45.7mm) than the 'scaly-foot gastropod', these are the largest neomphalines known to date. Hence "giganto", meaning "giant", derived from "Gigantes", the giants in Greek mythology. G. chessoia is a dominant species in East Scotia Ridge vents, the only truly Antarctic vents well-explored to date. G. aegis is especially interesting because both the shell and operculum are overlaid by a thick layer of iron oxide (i.e., rust), and thus it is another iron-armoured vent gastropod like the 'scaly-foot'. The operculum, especially, is so thickened that it is almost like a calcified one of a turbinid; hence the name "aegis", which refers to the mythical shield of Zeus and Athena. <br /> <br /> Please do let me know if you would like a copy of the full-text in PDF 🙂<br /> <br /> Chen C, Linse K, Roterman CN, Copley JT, Rogers AD (2015). A new genus of large hydrothermal vent-endemic gastropod (Neomphalina: Peltospiridae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 175 (2), 319-335.<br /> http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/zoj.12279/abstract
A new lead-authored paper published today reveals the genetic connectivity among all three known populations of the 'scaly-foot gastropod' (Chrysomallon squamiferum). Especially noteworthy is the low connectivity indicated between the Southwest Indian Ridge and Central Indian Ridge, which has implications for upcoming seafloor mining already planned for the Southwest Indian Ridge. This study is the first to investigate connectivity between hydrothermal vents across two mid-ocean ridges in the Indian Ocean. Please let me know if you would like to have a copy :)<br /> <br /> Chen C, Copley JT, Linse K, Rogers AD (2015). Low connectivity between ‘scaly-foot gastropod’ (Mollusca: Peltospiridae) populations at hydrothermal vents on the Southwest Indian Ridge and the Central Indian Ridge. Organisms Diversity & Evolution, doi:10.1007/s13127-015-0224-8.
Internal organ systems of the 'scaly-foot gastropod' (Chrysomallon squamiferum) uncovered! A new lead-authored paper by myself is now published in the journal Frontiers in Zoology, where we used 3D tomographic reconstruction and traditional dissection to reveal its detailed anatomy. Among other extraordinary features, it has a gigantic 'dragon heart' occupying a whooping 4% of the body volume (mind you, the average heart volume in a human being is only 1.5%)!!!! The paper is open access and freely available online at: http://www.frontiersinzoology.com/content/12/1/13<br /> <br /> Chen C, Copley JT, Linse K, Rogers AD, Sigwart JD (2015). The heart of a dragon: 3D anatomical reconstruction of the ‘scaly-foot gastropod’ (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Neomphalina) reveals its extraordinary circulatory system. Frontiers in Zoology 12:13; doi:10.1186/s12983-015-0105-1.
A co-authored paper has just been published on the online journal PLOS ONE (http://bit.ly/1DCnBXW)! What happens to local ecosystem if you make an artificial hydrothermal vent by deep-sea drilling? We investigated this in Okinawa Trough, Japan by monitoring the benthic area across a 40-months period after a drilling event. Through quantifying the visible changes in benthos fauna we found many interesting facts such as Shinkaia crosnieri squat lobsters are able to literally migrate on foot from nearby vents, and also showed how various vent animals colonise the new habitat in this area. This is among the first research to elucidate the initial formation processes of deep-sea hydrothermal vent ecosystems, and provides key information for future ecosystem assessment in the event of deep-sea mining, for example. This research was done in collaboration with JAMSTEC in Japan and was lead-authored by Dr. Ryota Nakajima from there. The paper is open access and therefore freely available from the publisher's website: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0123095<br /> <br /> Nakajima R, Yamamoto H, Kawagucci S, Takaya Y, Nozaki T, Chen C, Fujikura K, Miwa T, Takai K (2015). Post-drilling changes in seabed landscape and megabenthos in a deep-sea hydrothermal system, the Iheya North field, Okinawa Trough. PLoS ONE, 10(4): e0123095, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0123095.
The iconic 'scaly-foot gastropod' from hydrothermal vents of Indian Ocean finally gets a name! The description paper I lead-authored is now published online in Journal of Molluscan Studies (Advanced access: http://bit.ly/1D52Svg). The 'scaly-foot gastropod' was given the name Chrysomallon squamiferum gen. et sp. nov., and its relationship to other neomphalines were explored using both morphological and molecular methods. Please let me know if you would like a copy in PDF! :)<br /> <br /> Chen C, Linse K, Copley JT, Rogers AD (2015). The 'scaly-foot gastropod': a new genus and species of hydrothermal vent-endemic gastropod (Neomphalina: Peltospiridae) from the Indian Ocean. Journal of Molluscan Studies. Advance Access published April 20, 2015, doi:10.1093/mollus/eyv013.
Co-authored paper published in the journal Deep Sea Research Part I! Not molluscs this time -- it is about life history traits of hydrothermal vent squat lobsters (Munidopsis spp.). Free access to the full-text online through this link: http://authors.elsevier.com/a/1Qgaw3RueHDJ1A. :)<br /> <br /> Nakamura M, Chen C, Mitarai S (2015). Insights into life-history traits of Munidopsis spp. (Anomura: Munidopsidae) from hydrothermal vent fields in the Okinawa Trough, in comparison with the existing data. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 100: 48-53.
A paper I co-authored, "The mitochondrial genome of the deep-sea snail Provanna sp. (Gastropoda: Provannidae)", has been published in the journal Mitochondrial DNA (early online: http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/19401736.2014.1003827). :) Please do let me know if you are interested in a PDF copy.
A paper I lead authored, "How the mollusc got its scales: convergent evolution of the molluscan scleritome", is now published in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (early online, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bij.12462)! Please let me know if you would like to have a PDF copy :)
Paper published in the Venus volume 73 (1-2)! This includes the description of two new species of Chicomurex: C. globus Houart Moe & Chen, 2015 and C. pseudosuperbus Houart Moe & Chen 2015; and also reinstates the name C. gloriosus (Shikama, 1977) for the Philippines specimens previously referred to as C. venustulus (Rehder & Wilson, 1975), which is a different species restricted to the Marquesas Islands. Many thanks to Roland and Chris!! Please let me know if you would like a PDF copy.
(Note: this is an article from 2014, just uploading for the record)<br /> <br /> Co-authored publication published in Bulletin of Malacology, Taiwan! A new species of Chicomurex that was confused with C. superbus (Sowerby, 1889) in several publications is described from Taiwan and C. problematicus (Lan, 1981) is considered a junior subjective synonym of C. superbus. The holotypes of both C. superbus and C. problematicus are illustrated and C. superbus is redescribed.
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