scholarly journals Deep-sea shipwrecks represent island-like ecosystems for marine microbiomes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leila J. Hamdan ◽  
Justyna J. Hampel ◽  
Rachel D. Moseley ◽  
Rachel. L. Mugge ◽  
Anirban Ray ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Deep Sea ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Large Sphere ◽  
Biological Origin ◽  
Habitat Features ◽  
Biogeographic Patterns ◽  
Island Effect ◽  
New Information ◽  
Sphere Of Influence ◽  
Micro Organisms

AbstractBiogeography of macro- and micro-organisms in the deep sea is, in part, shaped by naturally occurring heterogeneous habitat features of geological and biological origin such as seeps, vents, seamounts, whale and wood-falls. Artificial features including shipwrecks and energy infrastructure shape the biogeographic patterns of macro-organisms; how they influence microorganisms is unclear. Shipwrecks may function as islands of biodiversity for microbiomes, creating a patchwork of habitats with influence radiating out into the seabed. Here we show microbiome richness and diversity increase as a function of proximity to the historic deep-sea shipwreck Anona in the Gulf of Mexico. Diversity and richness extinction plots provide evidence of an island effect on microbiomes. A halo of core taxa on the seabed was observed up to 200 m away from the wreck indicative of the transition zone from shipwreck habitat to the surrounding environment. Transition zones around natural habitat features are often small in area compared to what was observed at Anona indicating shipwrecks may exert a large sphere of influence on seabed microbiomes. Historic shipwrecks are abundant, isolated habitats with global distribution, providing a means to explore contemporary processes shaping biogeography on the seafloor. This work is a case study for how built environments impact microbial biodiversity and provides new information on how arrival of material to the seafloor shapes benthic microbiomes.

The role and status of Nautilus in its natural habitat: evidence from deep-water remote camera photosequences

Paleobiology ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 469-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Bruce Saunders
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Normal Component ◽  
Depth Range ◽  
Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Opportunistic Predator ◽  
Remote Camera

Bottom site remote camera photosequences at depths of 73–538 m on forereef slopes in Palau show that Nautilus belauensis is a highly mobile, chemosensitive, epibenthic scavenger and opportunistic predator. The overall depth range of this species is ca. 70–500 m, but photosequences indicate a preferred range of 150–300 m. Nautilus is active both nocturnally and diurnally, locating bait sites within 1–2 h. Associated macrofauna includes caridean shrimps, crabs, and eels; teleosts are rare below 100 m, but sharks are recorded in most photosequences below 250 m. Summarily, Nautilus exhibits a combination of characters that typify deep-sea strategy, including reproductive tactics, growth rate, and population dynamics. This and other evidence suggest that fossil Nautilidae may have been deep-water forms, in contrast to the typically shallower water ammonoids, and that Nautilus is a normal component of the deep forereef rather than a late Cretaceous refugee from shallow water.

scholarly journals Mesophotic Ecosystems: The Link between Shallow and Deep-Sea Habitats

Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 411
Author(s):  
Gal Eyal ◽  
Hudson T. Pinheiro
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems ◽  
Tropical Regions ◽  
Biogeographic Patterns ◽  
Global Diversity ◽  
Coral Reef Ecosystems ◽  
Threatened Habitats ◽  
Management And Conservation

Mesophotic ecosystems (MEs) are characterized by the presence of light-dependent organisms, found at depths ranging from ~30 to 150 m in temperate, subtropical and tropical regions. These communities occasionally create massive reef structures with diverse but characteristic morphologies, which serve as the framework builders of those ecosystems. In many localities, MEs are physically linked with shallow and deep-sea habitats, and while taxa from both environments share this space, a unique and endemic biodiversity is also found. The main MEs studied to date are the mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) and the temperate mesophotic ecosystems (TMEs), which have received increased attention during the last decade. As shallow coral reef ecosystems are among the most threatened habitats on Earth, the potential of MEs to act as refugia and contribute to the resilience of the whole ecosystem has been a subject of scrutiny. New technologies and methods have become more available to study these deeper parts of the reef ecosystems, yielding many new discoveries. However, basic gaps in knowledge remain in our scientific understanding of the global diversity of MEs, limiting our ability to recognize biogeographic patterns and to make educated decisions for the management and conservation of these ecosystems.

scholarly journals A clearly identifiable postlarva in the life cycle of a new species of Pliciloricus (Loricifera) from the deep sea of the Angola Basin

Zootaxa ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2096 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
GUNNAR GAD
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Type I ◽  
Double Row ◽  
Body Regions ◽  
New Information ◽  
Two Phases ◽  
Distinguishing Features ◽  
A New Species

A newly discovered species of Pliciloricus from the deep sea of the Angola Basin (Namibia, Atlantic) seems to have two types of postlarvae in its life cycle. Type I is a simplified but clearly identifiable postlarval stage, the other type II consists only of a thin layer of cuticle as the remnant of a postlarva. Both types contain adults that have moulted from them. The simplified type I postlarva has a fully developed lorica with an ornamentation identical to that of the adult, but other body regions are reduced with only a few structures left. The discovery of this clearly identifiable postlarva is important, because it supports the conclusion that Pliciloricus-species originally moults from postlarval stages as well as other taxa of Loricifera. Furthermore, it could be concluded that the simple cuticle layer surrounding most adults found during their metamorphosis is the remnant of a postlarval stage. The life cycle of the new species seems to include two phases. After to the bisexual is a unisexual phase, represented by a simplified parthenogenetic adult stage which lacks most parts of the adult morphology. The adults of P. diva sp. n. differ from other species in having among others (1) a mouth cone with four strong cuticular bars plus eight primary oral ridges; (2) leaf-like clavoscalids which are very broad basally and narrow distally, and have more than 22 transverse cross walls; (3) a strongly sclerotized double-organ consisting of four rami; (4) large spinoscalids of second row shorter than clavoscalids, (5) short type B spinoscalids of fourth row with claw-tips and with a double row of five teeth as well as distally with a double row of minute denticles; (6) an anterior margin of the lorica with bicuspid protrusions and specific crescent-shaped ornamentations; (7) a midventral plica with five bar-like transversal strengthened ridges. Distinguishing features of the Higgins-larva are (1) short clavoscalids with broad second segments; (3) a collar with seven flosculi located in small pits; posterolateral setae being short but strong and pod-like. The study also revealed new information about the double-organ of the adult and the buccal structures of the Higgins-larva.

scholarly journals The making of natural iron sulfide nanoparticles in a hot vent snail

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (41) ◽  
pp. 20376-20381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoshi Okada ◽  
Chong Chen ◽  
Tomo-o Watsuji ◽  
Manabu Nishizawa ◽  
Yohey Suzuki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Deep Sea ◽  
Iron Sulfide ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Industrial Applications ◽  
White Population ◽  
Iron Sulfides ◽  
Electron Microscopic ◽  
Metal Chalcogenide ◽  
Natural Iron ◽  
Single Exception

Biomineralization in animals exclusively features oxygen-based minerals with a single exception of the scaly-foot gastropod Chrysomallon squamiferum, the only metazoan with an iron sulfide skeleton. This unique snail inhabits deep-sea hot vents and possesses scales infused with iron sulfide nanoparticles, including pyrite, giving it a characteristic metallic black sheen. Since the scaly-foot is capable of making iron sulfide nanoparticles in its natural habitat at a relatively low temperature (∼15 °C) and in a chemically dynamic vent environment, elucidating its biomineralization pathways is expected to have significant industrial applications for the production of metal chalcogenide nanoparticles. Nevertheless, this biomineralization has remained a mystery for decades since the snail’s discovery, except that it requires the environment to be rich in iron, with a white population lacking in iron sulfide known from a naturally iron-poor locality. Here, we reveal a biologically controlled mineralization mechanism employed by the scaly-foot snail to achieve this nanoparticle biomineralization, through δ34 S measurements and detailed electron-microscopic investigations of both natural scales and scales from the white population artificially incubated in an iron-rich environment. We show that the scaly-foot snail mediates biomineralization in its scales by supplying sulfur through channel-like columns in which reaction with iron ions diffusing inward from the surrounding vent fluid mineralizes iron sulfides.

Organic complexation of copper in deep-sea hydrothermal vent systems

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia G. Sander ◽  
Andrea Koschinsky ◽  
Gary Massoth ◽  
Matthew Stott ◽  
Keith A. Hunter
Keyword(s):  
Deep Sea ◽  
Hydrothermal Vent ◽  
Hydrothermal Vents ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Hydrothermal Systems ◽  
Conditional Stability ◽  
Copper Binding ◽  
Medium Temperature ◽  
Ambient Seawater ◽  
Organic Complexation

Environmental context. Deep-sea hydrothermal vents represent a natural habitat for many extremophile organisms able to cope with extreme physical and chemical conditions, including high loads of heavy metals and reduced gases. To date, no information is available on the level and role of organic complexation of metals in these systems, which will have consequences on the bioavailability and precipitation or mineralisation of metals. In this work, we give evidence for the presence of organic molecules, including thiols, capable of forming complexes with copper strong enough to compete against sulfide present at high levels in hydrothermal systems. Abstract. Here we report, for the first time, that strong organic complexation plays an important role in the chemical speciation of copper in hydrothermal vent systems including medium temperature outlets, diffuse vents with an adjacent hydrothermal biocommunity, and local mixing zone with seawater. Samples from three deep-sea hydrothermal vent areas show a wide concentration range of organic copper-binding ligands, up to 4000 nM, with very high conditional stability constants (log K′Cu′L = 12.48 to 13.46). Measurements were usually made using voltammetric methods after removal of sulfide species under ambient seawater conditions (pH 7.8), but binding still occurs at pH 4.5 and 2.1. The voltammetric behaviour of our hydrothermal samples is compared with that of glutathione (GSH) a known strong Cu-binding ligand, as a representative of an organic thiol. Our results provide compelling evidence for the presence of organic ligands, including thiols, which form complexes strong enough to play an important role in controlling the bioavailability and geochemical behaviour of metal ions around hydrothermal vents.

scholarly journals Connecting structure and function from organisms to molecules in small animal symbioses through chemo-histo-tomography

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benedikt Geier ◽  
Janina Oetjen ◽  
Bernhard Ruthensteiner ◽  
Maxim Polikarpov ◽  
Harald Gruber-Vodicka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Mass Spectrometry Imaging ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Anatomic Structure ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Culture Independent ◽  
Metabolic Interactions ◽  
Micro Organisms

AbstractOur understanding of metabolic interactions between small symbiotic animals and bacteria or parasitic eukaryotes that reside within their body is extremely limited. This gap in knowledge originates from a methodological challenge, namely to connect histological changes in host tissues induced by beneficial and parasitic (micro)organisms to the underlying metabolites. To close this gap, we developed chemo-histo-tomography (CHEMHIST), a culture-independent approach to connect anatomic structure and metabolic function in millimeter-sized symbiotic animals. CHEMHIST combines spatial metabolomics based on mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) and microanatomy-based micro-computed X-ray tomography (microCT) on the same animal. Both high-resolution MSI and microCT allowed us to correlate the distribution of metabolites to the same animal’s three-dimensional (3D) histology down to sub-micrometer resolutions. Our protocol is compatible with tissue specific DNA sequencing and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for the taxonomic identification and localization of the associated micro(organisms). Building CHEMHIST upon in situ imaging, we sampled an earthworm from its natural habitat and created an interactive 3D model of its physical and chemical interactions with bacteria and parasitic nematodes in its tissues. Combining MSI and microCT, we introduce a workflow to connect metabolic and anatomic phenotypes of small symbiotic animals that often represent keystone species for ecosystem-functioning.SignificanceMetabolites mediate the establishment and persistence of most inter-kingdom symbioses. Still, to pinpoint the metabolites each partner displays upon interaction remains the biggest challenge in studying multi-organismal assemblages. Addressing this challenge, we developed a correlative imaging workflow to connect the in situ production of metabolites with the organ-scale and cellular 3D distributions of mutualistic and pathogenic (micro)organisms in the same host animal. Combining mass spectrometry imaging and micro-computed X-ray tomography provided a culture-independent approach, which is essential to include the full spectrum of naturally occurring interactions. To introduce the potential of combining high-resolution tomography with metabolite imaging, we resolve the metabolic interactions between an invertebrate host, its symbiotic bacteria and tissue parasites at unprecedented detail for model and non-model symbioses.

scholarly journals The biodiversity of the deep Southern Ocean benthos

2006 ◽  
Vol 362 (1477) ◽  
pp. 39-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Brandt ◽  
C De Broyer ◽  
I De Mesel ◽  
K.E Ellingsen ◽  
A.J Gooday ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Weddell Sea ◽  
Sediment Type ◽  
Biodiversity Patterns ◽  
Biogeographic Patterns ◽  
Relationship Of

Our knowledge of the biodiversity of the Southern Ocean (SO) deep benthos is scarce. In this review, we describe the general biodiversity patterns of meio-, macro- and megafaunal taxa, based on historical and recent expeditions, and against the background of the geological events and phylogenetic relationships that have influenced the biodiversity and evolution of the investigated taxa. The relationship of the fauna to environmental parameters, such as water depth, sediment type, food availability and carbonate solubility, as well as species interrelationships, probably have shaped present-day biodiversity patterns as much as evolution. However, different taxa exhibit different large-scale biodiversity and biogeographic patterns. Moreover, there is rarely any clear relationship of biodiversity pattern with depth, latitude or environmental parameters, such as sediment composition or grain size. Similarities and differences between the SO biodiversity and biodiversity of global oceans are outlined. The high percentage (often more than 90%) of new species in almost all taxa, as well as the high degree of endemism of many groups, may reflect undersampling of the area, and it is likely to decrease as more information is gathered about SO deep-sea biodiversity by future expeditions. Indeed, among certain taxa such as the Foraminifera, close links at the species level are already apparent between deep Weddell Sea faunas and those from similar depths in the North Atlantic and Arctic. With regard to the vertical zonation from the shelf edge into deep water, biodiversity patterns among some taxa in the SO might differ from those in other deep-sea areas, due to the deep Antarctic shelf and the evolution of eurybathy in many species, as well as to deep-water production that can fuel the SO deep sea with freshly produced organic matter derived not only from phytoplankton, but also from ice algae.

The western screech-owl and habitat alteration in Baja California: a gradient from urban and rural landscapes to natural habitat

2003 ◽  
Vol 81 (5) ◽  
pp. 916-922 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Rodríguez-Estrella ◽  
Aleyda Peláez Careaga
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Baja California ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Natural Areas ◽  
Rural Landscapes ◽  
Habitat Features ◽  
Nonbreeding Season ◽  
Arid Desert

We studied the western screech-owl (Otus kennicottii) in the desert of the southern Baja California peninsula to determine its status and habitat selection and whether it benefits from moderate human-caused habitat changes. Based on the response to tape-recorded call broadcasts, western screech-owls were more abundant in undisturbed vegetation than in human-altered habitat. In man-made environments, more owls responded in rural than in urban areas; indeed, they were practically absent in urban areas. In natural areas, a total of 1.6 owls/km was estimated in the nonbreeding season and 2.7 owls/km in the breeding season. The most important habitat features selected in natural areas were greater shrub cover in the strata containing shrubs 1–2 and 2–3 m high and greater canopy cover of trees >5 m high. In rural areas adjacent to cultivated areas, owls were present in areas with the greatest cover of shrubs 1–3 m high and a higher density of shrubs. The western screech-owl also occurs at lower densities in rural areas than in natural areas. Towns appear to be avoided in the arid desert of Baja California Sur. Western screech-owls may be still able to persist in rural areas that occupy an intermediate position on the gradient from a functional natural system (desert vegetation) to a completely altered ecological system, urbanized areas.

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