Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank the funding agencies, and the participants in the research voyages and MPI Observers for their sample collection. Special thanks go to Dennis Gordon, Rob Stewart, Di Tracey, Sadie Mills, Kareen Schnabel, and Dean Stotter (all of NIWA) for their hospitality and assistance during numerous visits to Wellington. Samples from cruises TAN0205, and TAN0413 were supplied by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) Invertebrate Collection and were collected as part of a research programme ‘Seamounts: their importance to fisheries and marine ecosystems’, undertaken by the NIWA and funded by the New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (C01X0224 (SFAS033)) and with additional funding from the Ministry of Fisheries (project no. ZBD2004-01) and NOAA Satellite Operations Facility (NRAM053). Specimens from cruise TAN1213 were collected by NIWA during the Nascent Inter-Ridge Volcanic and Neotectonic Activity (NIRVANA) voyage, funded by the Ministry for Primary Industries, in collaboration with Auckland University, GNS Science (New Zealand), and the University of New Hampshire (USA) and with funding from the program ‘Impact of resources Use on Vulnerable Deep-sea Communities’ project (CO1X0906), funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment. The author also wishes to thank S. Cairns, W. Keel, W. Moser, and K. Reed for their assistance during visits to the USNMNH. The photomicrographs were prepared in the SEM Laboratory of the USNMNH with the assistance of S. D. Whittaker, director of the SEM Lab. D.M. Opresko is a Research Associate of the USNMNH, and gratefully acknowledges that affiliation.