Reproductive biology and population structure of the alvinocaridid shrimp Rimicaris hybisae at hydrothermal vents on the Mid-Cayman Spreading Centre

Nye, Verity, Copley, Jon and Tyler, Paul A. (2012) Reproductive biology and population structure of the alvinocaridid shrimp Rimicaris hybisae at hydrothermal vents on the Mid-Cayman Spreading Centre. 13th Deep-Sea Biology Symposium, Wellington, New Zealand. 03 - 07 Dec 2012.

Abstract

Characterising the life-history biology of hydrothermal-vent species is a prerequisite for understanding the dynamics and distribution patterns of these insular populations. Recent studies have revealed spatial and temporal variation in the reproductive development of some species at hydrothermal vents (e.g. Copley et al., 2003). The alvinocaridid shrimp Rimicaris hybisae is an important component of the faunal assemblages at at least two deep-water hydrothermal vent fields on the Mid-Cayman Spreading Centre (MCSC) (Connelly et al., 2012; Nye et al., 2012). Here we present novel data from recent explorations of hydrothermal vent fields at the MCSC, which contributes to our analyses of reproductive processes of macrofaunal invertebrates from MCSC vents, and the role of life-history on the distribution patterns of vent taxa. Our aim was to determine any spatial variation in the population structure and reproductive features of R. hybisae between known vent fields at the MCSC, and to compare our results with the data available for other alvinocaridid shrimps from vents and cold seeps. Six samples of R. hybisae were collected from different locations at the Beebe Vent Field (~2300 m) and the Von Damm Vent Field (~5960 m), MCSC, in January 2012. Population structure, minimum fecundity and oocyte size-frequency distributions were compared between sample locations to assess spatial variation. Our results are presented in the context of available data for other alvinocaridids. We anticipate that future analysis will enable us to determine any temporal patterns in the reproduction of R. hybisae and to elucidate further the life-cycle of this species.

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Contributors

Author: Jon Copley

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