Life-history biology and biogeography of invertebrates in deep-sea chemosynthetic environments
Life-history biology and biogeography of invertebrates in deep-sea chemosynthetic environments
Globally-distributed, insular and ephemeral deep-sea hydrothermal vents with their endemic faunas provide ‘natural laboratories’ for studying the processes that shape global patterns of marine life. The continuing discovery of hydrothermal vents and their faunal assemblages has yielded hundreds of new species and revealed several biogeographic provinces, distinguished by differences in the taxonomic composition of their assemblages. However, the first-order question of how these provinces are separated remains unanswered. The recent discovery of the Beebe (~4600 m depth) and Von Damm (~2300 m depth) vent fields at the Mid-Cayman Spreading Centre and their faunas has provided a critical opportunity to further our understanding of the biodiversity, life-history biology and biogeography of vent species. Here I present Rimicaris hybisae sp. nov. (Caridea: Alvinocarididae), Iheyaspira bathycodon sp. nov. (Turbinidae: Skeneinae), and Lebbeus virentova sp. nov. (Caridea: Hippolytidae) from the Beebe and Von Damm vent fields. I elucidate the general reproductive features of the dominant species at Beebe and Von Damm (R. hybisae) and reveal a high degree of spatial variability in the population structure and reproductive features of this species at both these vent fields. I demonstrate inter-annual variation in the population structure and reproductive development of R. hybisae, superimposed upon the pattern of spatial variation, and hypothesise periodic or seasonal reproductive development in this species. Cluster analysis and the presence of Rimicaris-dominated faunal assemblages at the Beebe and Von Damm vent fields support higher-level taxonomic affinities with the fauna of Mid-Atlantic vents. These findings reveal previously unappreciated spatial variation in the reproductive development of a motile species at hydrothermal vents and expand our knowledge of the distribution of biodiversity. This work advances our understanding of biogeographic patterns of deep-sea chemosynthetic ecosystems, and provides a foundation to test the influence of various processes on the distribution of vent fauna at global scale.
Nye, Verity
e3688d01-623f-47b5-9a4c-7e49b16aa5a8
27 January 2014
Nye, Verity
e3688d01-623f-47b5-9a4c-7e49b16aa5a8
Copley, J.T.
5f30e2a6-76c1-4150-9a42-dcfb8f5788ef
Nye, Verity
(2014)
Life-history biology and biogeography of invertebrates in deep-sea chemosynthetic environments.
University of Southampton, Ocean and Earth Science, Doctoral Thesis, 293pp.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
Globally-distributed, insular and ephemeral deep-sea hydrothermal vents with their endemic faunas provide ‘natural laboratories’ for studying the processes that shape global patterns of marine life. The continuing discovery of hydrothermal vents and their faunal assemblages has yielded hundreds of new species and revealed several biogeographic provinces, distinguished by differences in the taxonomic composition of their assemblages. However, the first-order question of how these provinces are separated remains unanswered. The recent discovery of the Beebe (~4600 m depth) and Von Damm (~2300 m depth) vent fields at the Mid-Cayman Spreading Centre and their faunas has provided a critical opportunity to further our understanding of the biodiversity, life-history biology and biogeography of vent species. Here I present Rimicaris hybisae sp. nov. (Caridea: Alvinocarididae), Iheyaspira bathycodon sp. nov. (Turbinidae: Skeneinae), and Lebbeus virentova sp. nov. (Caridea: Hippolytidae) from the Beebe and Von Damm vent fields. I elucidate the general reproductive features of the dominant species at Beebe and Von Damm (R. hybisae) and reveal a high degree of spatial variability in the population structure and reproductive features of this species at both these vent fields. I demonstrate inter-annual variation in the population structure and reproductive development of R. hybisae, superimposed upon the pattern of spatial variation, and hypothesise periodic or seasonal reproductive development in this species. Cluster analysis and the presence of Rimicaris-dominated faunal assemblages at the Beebe and Von Damm vent fields support higher-level taxonomic affinities with the fauna of Mid-Atlantic vents. These findings reveal previously unappreciated spatial variation in the reproductive development of a motile species at hydrothermal vents and expand our knowledge of the distribution of biodiversity. This work advances our understanding of biogeographic patterns of deep-sea chemosynthetic ecosystems, and provides a foundation to test the influence of various processes on the distribution of vent fauna at global scale.
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Published date: 27 January 2014
Organisations:
University of Southampton, Ocean and Earth Science
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Local EPrints ID: 362004
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/362004
PURE UUID: 3e78b818-124a-41d9-8a7f-4457f298c371
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Date deposited: 13 Feb 2014 10:39
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:48
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Author:
Verity Nye
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