scholarly journals The benthos: the ocean’s last boundary?

2020 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 463-475
Author(s):  
Josep-Maria Gili ◽  
Begoña Vendrell-Simón ◽  
Wolf Arntz ◽  
Francesc Sabater ◽  
Joandomènec Ros
Keyword(s):  
Water Column ◽  
Residence Time ◽  
Food Source ◽  
Benthic Communities ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
Benthic Organisms ◽  
Main Food ◽  
Sinking Particles ◽  
Main Food Source

Benthic communities depend on receiving much of their food from the water column. While sinking, particles are transformed in a discontinuous process and are temporally retained in transitional physical structures, which act as boundaries and contribute to their further transformation. Motile organisms are well-acquainted with boundaries. The number, width and placement of boundaries are related to the degree of particle degradation or transformation. Progressively deepening within each boundary, particles are degraded according to their residence time in the discontinuity and the activity of the organisms temporarily inhabiting that boundary. Finally, particles reach the seafloor and represent the main food source for benthic organisms; the quality and quantity of this food have a strong impact on the development of benthic communities. However, benthic communities not only play the role of a sink of matter: they act as an active boundary comparable to other oceanic boundaries, in accordance with the boundary concept proposed by the ecologist Ramon Margalef.

Benthic Organisms and the Structure of Marine Ecosystems

1975 ◽  
Vol 32 (9) ◽  
pp. 1657-1663 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric L. Mills
Keyword(s):  
Benthic Communities ◽  
Demersal Fish ◽  
Marine Ecosystems ◽  
Benthic Organisms ◽  
Biological Oceanography ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Benthic Animals

The contribution of benthic ecology to biological oceanography has been relatively slight, even though the benthos may be crucial in understanding the dynamics of marine ecosystems, as J. H. Steele’s model of the North Sea indicates. Before the benthos may be accurately assigned a role in such models, we need to know at least 1) what food items are consumed and assimilated, 2) what the role of bacteria and meiobenthos may be, and 3) if there are different levels of demersal fish production from differently structured benthic communities. There seem to be no shortcuts to the kind of information about benthic animals useful in permitting assessment of fisheries production in a realistic biological framework.

scholarly journals The effect of abiotic and biotic factors on the importance of macroplankton in the diet of Northeast Arctic cod in recent years

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (7) ◽  
pp. 1463-1474 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.L. Orlova ◽  
A.V. Dolgov ◽  
G.B. Rudneva ◽  
V.N. Nesterova
Keyword(s):  
Energy Balance ◽  
Food Source ◽  
Water Mass ◽  
Ecological Groups ◽  
Biotic Factors ◽  
Low Fat ◽  
Main Food ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Abiotic And Biotic Factors ◽  
Main Food Source

AbstractUsing cod feeding data, this paper considers the distribution and abundance of macroplankton from different ecological groups (euphausiids and hyperiids) and the variability in their consumption by cod over a period of years during which different water mass temperatures were observed. These years were also characterized by variable abundance of capelin, cod's main food source. Differences in intensity and duration of cod consumption of euphausiids and hyperiids species are shown, depending on their abundance, temperature conditions, cod distribution, and the supply of capelin for cod. This paper discusses the energetics of consuming different types of prey and the role euphausiids play in the energy balance of cod. The low fat content of cod is sometimes associated with feeding on postspawning euphausiids in summer and autumn.

A preliminary investigation of the lipids and fatty acids composition of Gammarus aequicauda (Crustacea: Amphipoda) and its main food source

2006 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 345-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Biandolino ◽  
Ermelinda Prato
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acids ◽  
Food Source ◽  
Unsaturated Fatty Acids ◽  
Southern Italy ◽  
Preliminary Investigation ◽  
Monounsaturated Fatty Acids ◽  
Main Food ◽  
Gammarus Aequicauda ◽  
Chaetomorpha Linum ◽  
Main Food Source

Lipid and fatty acid composition in Gammarus aequicauda from Mar Piccolo (Ionian Sea, southern Italy) were studied during the spring months. Simultaneously, samples of the macroalgae Chaetomorpha linum were also collected from the same area. During these months Chaetomorpha linum was the main food source of Gammarus aequicauda. The main lipid classes were phospholipids (PL) and triacylglycerols (TG) both in Gammarus aequicauda and in Chaetomorpha linum with similar concentrations. But PL was the main lipid class in Gammarus aequicauda and TG in Chaetomorpha linum. On average unsaturated fatty acids represent the preponderant part in both G. aequicauda and C. linum. Gammarus aequicauda had a higher level in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), on the contrary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were the dominant unsaturated fatty acids in C. linum. Both were characterized by high levels of 18:0, 18:1(n-9), 20:5(n-3) and 20:4(n-6), in particular C. linum had a high proportion of 14:0 and the ratio of 18:1n 9/18:1n 7 was high.

scholarly journals Diets of peracarid crustaceans associated with the orange coral Astroides calycularis in southern Spain

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 170 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. TERRÓN-SIGLERA ◽  
D. LEÓN-MUEZ ◽  
P. PEÑALVER-DUQUE ◽  
F. ESPINOSA TORRE
Keyword(s):  
Iberian Peninsula ◽  
Food Source ◽  
Southern Spain ◽  
Gut Contents ◽  
Feeding Strategies ◽  
Southern Coast ◽  
Gut Content ◽  
Main Food ◽  
Main Food Source

The endangered and Mediterranean endemic orange coral (Astroides calycularis) hosts an important macrofaunal assemblage. The gut contents of the main peracarids associated with the orange coral were analysed. In total 161 specimens belonging to 11 species and 9 families were examined on the southern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The gut content study was carried out introducing the specimens of each species in Hertwig’s liquid. The analysis revealed that the peracarid species associated with A. calycularis had different feeding strategies and their main food source was detritus. The results highlight that peracarids may depend on the host and the detritus that the coral produces.

scholarly journals Sulfur-oxidizing symbionts without canonical genes for autotrophic CO2fixation

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandon K. B. Seah ◽  
Chakkiath Paul Antony ◽  
Bruno Huettel ◽  
Jan Zarzycki ◽  
Lennart Schada von Borzyskowski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Hydrothermal Vents ◽  
Food Source ◽  
Carbon Fixation ◽  
Carbon Sources ◽  
Coastal Sediments ◽  
Carbon Stable Isotope ◽  
Main Food ◽  
Sulfur Oxidizing ◽  
Main Food Source

AbstractSince the discovery of symbioses between sulfur-oxidizing (thiotrophic) bacteria and invertebrates at hydrothermal vents over 40 years ago, it has been assumed that autotrophic fixation of CO2by the symbionts drives these nutritional associations. In this study, we investigatedCandidatusKentron, the clade of symbionts hosted byKentrophoros, a diverse genus of ciliates which are found in marine coastal sediments around the world. Despite being the main food source for their hosts, Kentron lack the key canonical genes for any of the known pathways for autotrophic fixation, and have a carbon stable isotope fingerprint unlike other thiotrophic symbionts from similar habitats. Our genomic and transcriptomic analyses instead found metabolic features consistent with growth on organic carbon, especially organic and amino acids, for which they have abundant uptake transporters. All known thiotrophic symbionts have converged on using reduced sulfur to generate energy lithotrophically, but they are diverse in their carbon sources. Some clades are obligate autotrophs, while many are mixotrophs that can supplement autotrophic carbon fixation with heterotrophic capabilities similar to those in Kentron. We have shown that Kentron are the only thiotrophic symbionts that appear to be entirely heterotrophic, unlike all other thiotrophic symbionts studied to date, which possess either the Calvin-Benson-Bassham or reverse tricarboxylic acid cycles for autotrophy.Significance StatementMany animals and protists depend on symbiotic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria as their main food source. These bacteria use energy from oxidizing inorganic sulfur compounds to make biomass autotrophically from CO2, serving as primary producers for their hosts. Here we describe apparently non-autotrophic sulfur symbionts called Kentron, associated with marine ciliates. They lack genes for known autotrophic pathways, and have a carbon stable isotope fingerprint heavier than other symbionts from similar habitats. Instead they have the potential to oxidize sulfur to fuel the uptake of organic compounds for heterotrophic growth, a metabolic mode called chemolithoheterotrophy that is not found in other symbioses. Although several symbionts have heterotrophic features to supplement primary production, in Kentron they appear to supplant it entirely.

scholarly journals Spatial variability of macrozoobenthic community and trophic structure of a subtropical lagoon on southeastern Brazil's Atlantic coast

2013 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Ricevuto ◽  
Salvatrice Vizzini ◽  
Claudio Lardicci ◽  
Abilio Soares Gomes
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Food Source ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Great Influence ◽  
Lagoon System ◽  
Trophic Pathways ◽  
Important Food Source ◽  
Main Food Source

The objective of this study was to investigate the macrobenthic community of two compartments of the Maricá-Guarapina lagoon system, along the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in relation to its abiotic sediment factors. An additional discrimination between sites was made, wherever the macrophyte Typha domingensis was found. This vegetation supposedly represents a potentially important food source for consumers. Furthermore, the trophic pathways were analyzed functionally by means of stable isotope analysis to assess the role of organic matter sources for consumers in the study area. In conclusion, the results showed differences between abiotic features in the compartments of the lagoon system, which, although they have affected the different species' distribution, have led to a homogeneous low-diversity system. Macrozoobenthic species tend to change with increasing distance from the sea, with a slightly different distribution in the two compartments. The macrophyte T. domingensis did not exercise any great influence on the biotic distribution and was not the main food source for consumers in the lagoon system, where, instead, sedimentary organic matter and macrophyte detritus also seem to play an important role in the trophic web.

scholarly journals Does bivalve mucus favour the growth of their main food source, microalgae?

1999 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Cognie ◽  
Laurent Barille
Keyword(s):  
Food Source ◽  
Main Food ◽  
Main Food Source
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