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PLoS One
2012 Jan 01;710:e48348. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0048348.
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Microdistribution of faunal assemblages at deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the Southern Ocean.
Marsh L
,
Copley JT
,
Huvenne VA
,
Linse K
,
Reid WD
,
Rogers AD
,
Sweeting CJ
,
Tyler PA
.
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Chemosynthetic primary production by microbes supports abundant faunal assemblages at deep-sea hydrothermal vents, with zonation of invertebrate species typically occurring along physico-chemical gradients. Recently discovered vent fields on the East Scotia Ridge (ESR) in the Southern Ocean represent a new province of vent biogeography, but the spatial dynamics of their distinct fauna have yet to be elucidated. This study determines patterns of faunal zonation, species associations, and relationships between faunal microdistribution and hydrothermal activity in a vent field at a depth of 2,400 m on the ESR. Remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives obtained high-definition imagery of three chimney structures with varying levels of hydrothermal activity, and a mosaic image of >250 m(2) of seafloor co-registered with temperature measurements. Analysis of faunal microdistribution within the mosaiced seafloor reveals a consistent pattern of faunal zonation with increasing distance from vent sources and peak temperatures. Assemblages closest to vent sources are visibly dominated by a new species of anomuran crab, Kiwa n. sp. (abundance >700 individuals m(-2)), followed by a peltospiroid gastropod (>1,500 individuals m(-2)), eolepadid barnacle (>1,500 individuals m(-2)), and carnivorous actinostolid anemone (>30 individuals m(-2)). Peripheral fauna are not dominated by a single taxon, but include predatory and scavenger taxa such as stichasterid seastars, pycnogonids and octopus. Variation in faunal microdistribution on chimneys with differing levels of activity suggests a possible successional sequence for vent fauna in this new biogeographic province. An increase in δ(34)S values of primary consumers with distance from vent sources, and variation in their δ(13)C values also indicate possible zonation of nutritional modes of the vent fauna. By using ROV videography to obtain a high-resolution representation of a vent environment over a greater extent than previous studies, these results provide a baseline for determining temporal change and investigations of processes structuring faunal assemblages at Southern Ocean vents.
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23144754
???displayArticle.pmcLink???PMC3483289 ???displayArticle.link???PLoS One
Figure 1. Location of the E2 and E9 hydrothermal vent fields on the East Scotia Ridge (ESR) back-arc basin, Southern Ocean.
Figure 2. The E9 hydrothermal vent field.(Top-right) Ship acquired swath bathymetry of the ‘Devils Punchbowl’ collapsed caldera. Black outline denotes the E9 vent field and area of ROV-based swath. (Main bathymetric map) High-resolution ROV-acquired mulitbeam bathymetry of the E9 vent field. Waypoints denote areas of interest (A) Flat sheet lavas, typical background substrate of the E9 vent field (B) Most northern point of low-lying hydrothermal activity (C) “Twin Peaks” (D) “Black and White” (E) “Carwash” (F) “Temple” (G) “Marshland” (H) “Marsh Towers”; (I) “Ivory Towers” chimney complex (J) “Pagoda” chimney complex (K) “Launch Pad” chimney complex (L) “Needle” (M) “Windsor Castle”.
Figure 4. Horizontal mosaic of an area of low-lying diffuse flow around “Twin Peaks”.Dive 139, 2401 m depth. ROV heading 358°. Area mosaiced ∼280 m2. Laser scale = 10 cm (A) unidentified Octopod (B) cluster of stichasterid seastars (C) pycnogonid genus Colessendeis sp. predating on actinostolid (D) small area of diffuse flow (E) barnacles on ‘y’ – shaped fracture (F) “Kiwa assemblage B” and “gastropod assemblage” (G) “Kiwa assemblage A” associated with peak ROV mounted CTD temperature measurement (6.03°C) (H) small area of diffuse flow in collapsed basalt.
Figure 5. Images captured from high-definition video footage of the key fauna from the E9 vent field.Unless stated otherwise, laser scale or scale bar = 10 cm (A) Anhydrite assemblage adjacent to Kiwa assemblage A (B) Kiwa assemblage B (C) gastropod assemblage (D) barnacle assemblage (E) anemone assemblage (F) Actinostolid observed egesting a Kiwa n. sp. carapace (indicated by white arrow) (G) Un-described seven-armed stichasterid seastar (H) Predatory seastar observed preying on a Kiwa n. sp. (I) On-board still image of Lepetodrilus n. sp. on carapace of large individual of Kiwa n. sp. 62 individuals counted, Scale = 5 cm (J) Lepetodrilus n. sp in association with the gastropod assemblage (5900–6200 individuals m−2).
Figure 6.
Lepetodrilus n. sp.(A) Barnacle assemblage with associated Lepetodrilus n. sp. 20,172–56,904 individuals m−2. (B) Line plot indicates the total number of limpets in each 5 cm increment towards an area of rising hydrothermal effluent. Bar plot indicates average number of limpets per capitula. Error bars are standard deviation.
Figure 8. Temperature and positional data acquired from the “Twin Peaks” horizontal mosaic survey (A) Dotted line indicates the ROV position, offset to represent the 3-chip camera location.Temperature plot is an interpolation using data acquired from the ROV mounted CTD. (B) Digitised faunal assemblages of the “Twin Peaks” low-lying diffuse flow area. Assemblage types are colour coded and presented in the legend. Peripheral fauna are indicated using the following symbols (+) Kiwa n. sp. (○) unidentified Octopod (•) un-described Stichasterid seastar (x) Colessendeis sp. pycnogonid.
Figure 10. Idealised schematic of the spatial distribution of the E9 vent field faunal assemblages with increasing distance from a vent fluid exit.This spatial pattern of zonation radiates in both (A) horizontal and (B) vertical directions.
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