Functional effects of the hadal sea cucumber Elpidia atakama (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea, Elasipodida) reflect small-scale patterns of resource availability
Functional effects of the hadal sea cucumber Elpidia atakama (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea, Elasipodida) reflect small-scale patterns of resource availability
Holothuroidea represent the dominant benthic megafauna in hadal trenches (similar to 6,000-11,000 m), but little is known about their behaviour and functional role at such depths. Using a time-lapse camera at 8,074 m in the Peru-Chile Trench (SE Pacific Ocean), we provide the first in situ observations of locomotory activity for the elasipodid holothurian Elpidia atakama Belyaev in Shirshov Inst Oceanol 92: 326-367, (1971). Time-lapse sequences reveal 'run and mill' behaviour whereby bouts of feeding activity are interspersed by periods of locomotion. Over the total observation period (20 h 25 min), we observed a mean (+/- SD) locomotion speed of 7.0 +/- 5.7 BL h(-1), but this increased to 10.9 +/- 7.2 BL h(-1) during active relocation and reduced to 4.8 +/- 2.9 BL h(-1) during feeding. These observations show E. atakama translocates and processes sediment at rates comparable to shallower species despite extreme hydrostatic pressure and remoteness from surface-derived food.
2695-2703
Jamieson, A.J.
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Gebruk, A.
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Fujii, T.
374eb2a9-9b73-49e4-9174-ac8390b7543a
Solan, M.
a05395b0-1720-4ceb-a8a9-6d85f643dc51
December 2011
Jamieson, A.J.
4d3f025f-f15f-4e74-a0b2-8f6016e96577
Gebruk, A.
f42e9778-784f-468a-9a48-20cf7bed7c65
Fujii, T.
374eb2a9-9b73-49e4-9174-ac8390b7543a
Solan, M.
a05395b0-1720-4ceb-a8a9-6d85f643dc51
Jamieson, A.J., Gebruk, A., Fujii, T. and Solan, M.
(2011)
Functional effects of the hadal sea cucumber Elpidia atakama (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea, Elasipodida) reflect small-scale patterns of resource availability.
Marine Biology, 158 (12), .
(doi:10.1007/s00227-011-1767-7).
Abstract
Holothuroidea represent the dominant benthic megafauna in hadal trenches (similar to 6,000-11,000 m), but little is known about their behaviour and functional role at such depths. Using a time-lapse camera at 8,074 m in the Peru-Chile Trench (SE Pacific Ocean), we provide the first in situ observations of locomotory activity for the elasipodid holothurian Elpidia atakama Belyaev in Shirshov Inst Oceanol 92: 326-367, (1971). Time-lapse sequences reveal 'run and mill' behaviour whereby bouts of feeding activity are interspersed by periods of locomotion. Over the total observation period (20 h 25 min), we observed a mean (+/- SD) locomotion speed of 7.0 +/- 5.7 BL h(-1), but this increased to 10.9 +/- 7.2 BL h(-1) during active relocation and reduced to 4.8 +/- 2.9 BL h(-1) during feeding. These observations show E. atakama translocates and processes sediment at rates comparable to shallower species despite extreme hydrostatic pressure and remoteness from surface-derived food.
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Published date: December 2011
Organisations:
Ocean Biochemistry & Ecosystems
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Local EPrints ID: 210855
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/210855
ISSN: 0025-3162
PURE UUID: df45e1fb-f30d-4ef4-bc4e-ce0a5f7f2491
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Date deposited: 28 May 2012 16:15
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 04:50
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Author:
A.J. Jamieson
Author:
A. Gebruk
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T. Fujii
Author:
M. Solan
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