Polychaete worms obtained by RRS ‘Discovery’ from 200 to 4850 m north-west of Africa in 1979 contained 24 species of which five:
Macellicephala violacea,
Bathyeliosona abyssicola,
Laetmonice filicornis,
Maldanella harai and
Potamilla torelli were present in the abyssal zone (>2000 m).
Macellicephala violacea is widely distributed in the Arctic and the present record is the southern-most record of this species. Fifteen species were recorded from the bathyal zone, many of which have a wide distribution in the oceans. A
Neopolynoe species from the bathyal zone is new to science.