Revision of the ‘dragon-head’ cusk eels of the genus Porogadus (Teleostei: Ophidiidae), with description of eight new species and one new genus

The ophidiid genus Porogadus occurs between 800 and 5300 m in the tropical and subtropical world oceans. Fifteen nominal species have been described since 1878 and most of them until 1902. The genus has been highlighted as needing revision in recent compilations about ophidiiforms and here we present the first comprehensive review. Twelve of the previously described species are here accepted as valid with two being moved to the newly established genus Tenuicephalus n. gen. that encompasses fishes differing from those of Porogadus in the extremely weak ossification, the stout head, absence of head spines and absence of the “triple” lateral line system considered typical for Porogadus and a reduced dentition. In addition, eight new species are described: Porogadus caboverdensis, P. dracocephalus, P. lacrimatus, P. mendax, P. solomonensis, P. turgidus, Tenuicephalus multitrabs and T. squamilabrus. The species of Porogadus show a distinctive depth segregation with the majority of species having a demersal bathyal life-style between 800 and 3500 m and other species being more or less exclusively restricted to abyssal depths below 3000 m. The biogeographic distribution pattern of bathyal groups shows putative species pairs in the Atlantic versus the eastern Pacific and a clear separation of eastern Pacific from Indo-West Pacific species. The geographic effects and timing are being discussed that may have led to this speciation events. Generally, we found widely distributed species that are found far away from continental masses and others restrained to continental slopes and sometimes exhibiting regionalism. In abyssal depth, the Cabo Verde and Canary basins off NW-Africa have yielded three exclusive species, but it is uncertain at this stage whether this could represent a sampling bias with this area being extensively sampled by the Discovery research vessel (BMNH) over the years from 1970–1998. Another instance of a potentially endemic abyssal species is that of Porogadus melanocephalus in the Bay of Bengal. The latter has been caught with 45 specimens in a single trawl, representing the highest number of Porogadus specimens collected in any trawl and indicating that these fishes may actually not be as rare as one might assume from the literature.

Seasonality, niche management, and vertical migration in landscapes of relief

Landscapes of vertical relief, such as mountains and continental slopes, intensify ecological and climatological variation within narrow spatial windows. Seasonal vertical migrants exploit this variation during their residence in, and movements between, vertically stratified seasonal ranges. Animals in terrestrial, marine, and even human-ecological systems undergo similar patterns of seasonal vertical movements. The diversity of arenas in which vertical migration evolved lends insight to the factors promoting seasonal use of landscapes of relief. Because animals must contend with both endogenous circannual rhythms and exogenous environmental seasonality, vertical migrants may be sensitive to inconsistent change across stratified seasonal ranges under climate change. To better understand how ongoing and future climatic and environmental changes are likely to impact vertical migrants, we examine vertical migration in the context of niche tracking and niche switching. Whereas niche trackers minimize variation in realized environmental conditions throughout their seasonal movements, niche switchers undergo seasonal transitions in realized niche space. These strategies mediate the relationship between migrants and their changing environment, and can be used to forecast impacts of future change and effectively conserve systems of vertical migration. Niche tracking may be hindered by inconsistent or unpredictable environmental change along a single niche axis across strata, while niche switching may be sensitive to incongruous spatiotemporal change across factors. We suggest that climate change will affect seasonal patterns in vertical environments discontinuously across time, space, and strata, and that vertical migrants are likely to face additional anthropogenic threats that interact with environmental seasonality. Conservation of vertical migrants should prioritize the availability of, and facilitate movement between, stratified seasonal ranges.

The history of the Nahariya Submarine Canyon, offshore northern Israel, from sedimentary down core records and foraminiferal analyses

<p>Submarine canyons are prominent features in continental slopes. They play an important role in sediment transport to the deep sea, as they form conduits for turbidity currents and cause landslides due their steep slopes. Such mass transport events could create geo-hazards, which compromise infrastructures along the continental slope.</p><p>Our research focuses on the Nahariya Canyon, which is part of a series of submarine canyons located along the continental slopes of the eastern Mediterranean, offshore northern Israel. This canyon is incised into the slope and does not reach the shelf. Here, we report the results from a study of two piston cores sampled in the canyon at water depths of 650m (NAC650, ~2.5m long) and 915m (NAC915, ~6m long). Chronologies were established based radiocarbon dating using slope foraminiferal shells, in addition to <sup>210</sup>Pb and OSL dating of bulk sediment. The sediments were characterized by major and trace element concentrations, mineralogy, grain size, and dead foraminiferal assemblages. We further identified the living (Rose-Bengal stained) foraminiferal species at three depths habitats (200m 650m and 915m water depth).</p><p>Our results show that both piston cores are comprised of a capping ~40 cm thick interval of fine laminated mud, deposited over the last ~150-200 years, apparently reflecting hemipelagic sedimentation. This capping interval unconformably overlays a consolidated sequence in both cores, which indicates a major sediment removal. The consolidated sequence in NAC650 is mostly homogenous and dates to the previous glacial (>140 ka), and in NAC915 the upper 70 cm of the consolidated sequence consists mud clasts dated to 27-46 ka that overlay an ‘S shape’ shear zone, which is a result of a down canyon mass wasting (debrite). Below that debrite, the sediment is mostly homogenous and dates to the last glacial (>25 ka). Broken shells of shallow benthic foraminiferal species such as Ammonia spp., Asterigerinata mamilla, Miliolids, Rosalina spp. and Sorites orbiculus are found abundantly throughout both piston-cores, varying between in-core intervals, indicating that allochthonous sediments are prevalent at those cores. Same shallow species are found also in the surface (living) assemblages, mixed with slope deep foraminiferal species. Moreover, the deep living foraminiferal shells are well preserved, in contrast to the shallow living species. Taken together, these indicate that sediment transport processes along the canyon exist to this day.</p><p>The cores suggest that the canyon is an erosive environment at least since the last glacial maximum, when the last significant mass wasting deposit is recorded. The Holocene is not represented in the records, probably due to the dominance of erosion processes, except for a thin layer of sediment deposited over the last two centuries that prevails along the entire canyon.</p>

Benthic Nepheloid Layers along the U.S. GEOTRACES GA03 Transect in the Western North Atlantic: Characterization and Influence on 230Th and 231Pa Cycling

<p>Benthic nepheloid layers (BNLs) are particle-rich layers that can extend over a thousand meter or more above the seafloor and are thought to be produced by the resuspension of fine sediments from strong bottom currents. They can often be subdivided into two sublayers: (i) a lower sublayer in contact with the seabed, where particle concentrations are the largest and which roughly coincides with the bottom mixed layer (BML); and (ii) an upper sublayer in which particle concentration decreases up to a clear water minimum (CWM). Although BNLs have long been recognised in vertical traces of optical instruments lowered to abyssal depths, their influence on ocean biogeochemical cycles – on the cycling of particle-reactive metals in particular – remains poorly understood.</p><p>In this study, we characterize the BNLs observed between the New England continental shelf and Bermuda and explore their influence on the cycling of <sup>230</sup>Th and <sup>231</sup>Pa – two naturally-occurring particle-reactive radionuclides that have found different applications in chemical oceanography and paleoceanography. To this end, we use concomitant measurements of temperature, salinity, particle concentration derived from light beam transmissometry, and <sup>230</sup>Th and <sup>231</sup>Pa activities in the dissolved and particulate fractions, which have been collected along the western segment of the U.S. GEOTRACES GA03 transect. We estimate that the thickness of strong BNLs (particle concentration > 20 µg l<sup>-1</sup>) varied from about 72 to 1358 m between different deep stations. At all stations, particle concentrations below the CWM were the highest in the BML, whose thickness ranged from 95 to 320 m, and decreased generally with height above the seafloor. A simplified model of particle-radionuclide cycling in the deep water column, which includes a particle source representing sediment resuspension at topographic reliefs and their subsequent lateral transport, is fitted to observed profiles of particle concentration and radionuclide activities at two selected stations. The model can reproduce simultaneously the increase of particle concentration with depth, the low dissolved activities in the BNLs, and the extremely large particulate activities near the bottom. Analysis of <sup>230</sup>Th and <sup>231</sup>Pa budgets reveals that the behaviour of both radionuclides in the BNL is fundamentally different from that envisioned in reversible exchange theory. Sensitivity tests with the model suggest that lateral particle sources near continental slopes and similar reliefs can produce significant biases in the paleoceanographic applications of both radionuclides, including the <sup>230</sup>Th-normalization method and the interpretation of sediment <sup>231</sup>Pa/<sup>230</sup>Th records.</p>

Underestimated angle of submarine slope at failure: A short discussion

Submarine landslides always occur along gently inclined continental slopes, but the reasons for such failure of low-angle submarine slopes are unclear and contentious. A short discussion is presented here to some recent published papers including some inspirations about the low-angle failure of submarine slopes. Because fluid overpressure could lead to steepening slopes before landslide, the inclination of the slopes at failure may be underestimated. We offer a new perspective on low-angle failure of low-permeability slopes.