The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

A chemosynthetic weed: the tubeworm Sclerolinum contortum is a bipolar, cosmopolitan species

A chemosynthetic weed: the tubeworm Sclerolinum contortum is a bipolar, cosmopolitan species
A chemosynthetic weed: the tubeworm Sclerolinum contortum is a bipolar, cosmopolitan species
Background:
Sclerolinum (Annelida: Siboglinidae) is a genus of small, wiry deep-sea tubeworms that depend on an endosymbiosis with chemosynthetic bacteria for their nutrition, notable for their ability to colonise a multitude of reducing environments. Since the early 2000s, a Sclerolinum population has been known to inhabit sediment-hosted hydrothermal vents within the Bransfield Strait, Southern Ocean, and whilst remaining undescribed, it has been suggested to play an important ecological role in this ecosystem. Here, we show that the Southern Ocean Sclerolinum population is not a new species, but more remarkably in fact belongs to the species S. contortum, first described from an Arctic mud volcano located nearly 16,000 km away.

Results:
Our new data coupled with existing genetic studies extend the range of this species across both polar oceans and the Gulf of Mexico. Our analyses show that the populations of this species are structured on a regional scale, with greater genetic differentiation occurring between rather than within populations. Further details of the external morphology and tube structure of S. contortum are revealed through confocal and SEM imaging, and the ecology of this worm is discussed.

Conclusions:
These results shed further insight into the plasticity and adaptability of this siboglinid group to a range of reducing conditions, and into the levels of gene flow that occur between populations of the same species over a global extent.
Siboglinidae, Polychaeta, Annelida, Antarctica, Gene flow, Deep-sea, Connectivity, Hydrothermal vent, Cold seep, Biogeography
1471-2148
280
Georgieva, Magdalena N.
130fcd1a-effb-4a57-86f8-ad00f8a7d889
Wiklund, Helena
7c228af0-33a8-471f-b0f8-bc1e558cf8ed
Bell, James B.
74cdb23e-5474-431d-952c-96e87392987a
Eilertsen, Mari H.
f678e0b4-be1f-4830-9063-8267e3b75f8f
Mills, Rachel A.
a664f299-1a34-4b63-9988-1e599b756706
Little, Crispin T.S.
34fb970d-b495-4d6a-8e2e-5161319d4bdd
Glover, Adrian G.
91192a3a-fc25-4c1f-b062-2e4da183272e
Georgieva, Magdalena N.
130fcd1a-effb-4a57-86f8-ad00f8a7d889
Wiklund, Helena
7c228af0-33a8-471f-b0f8-bc1e558cf8ed
Bell, James B.
74cdb23e-5474-431d-952c-96e87392987a
Eilertsen, Mari H.
f678e0b4-be1f-4830-9063-8267e3b75f8f
Mills, Rachel A.
a664f299-1a34-4b63-9988-1e599b756706
Little, Crispin T.S.
34fb970d-b495-4d6a-8e2e-5161319d4bdd
Glover, Adrian G.
91192a3a-fc25-4c1f-b062-2e4da183272e

Georgieva, Magdalena N., Wiklund, Helena, Bell, James B., Eilertsen, Mari H., Mills, Rachel A., Little, Crispin T.S. and Glover, Adrian G. (2015) A chemosynthetic weed: the tubeworm Sclerolinum contortum is a bipolar, cosmopolitan species. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 15 (1), 280. (doi:10.1186/s12862-015-0559-y).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Background:
Sclerolinum (Annelida: Siboglinidae) is a genus of small, wiry deep-sea tubeworms that depend on an endosymbiosis with chemosynthetic bacteria for their nutrition, notable for their ability to colonise a multitude of reducing environments. Since the early 2000s, a Sclerolinum population has been known to inhabit sediment-hosted hydrothermal vents within the Bransfield Strait, Southern Ocean, and whilst remaining undescribed, it has been suggested to play an important ecological role in this ecosystem. Here, we show that the Southern Ocean Sclerolinum population is not a new species, but more remarkably in fact belongs to the species S. contortum, first described from an Arctic mud volcano located nearly 16,000 km away.

Results:
Our new data coupled with existing genetic studies extend the range of this species across both polar oceans and the Gulf of Mexico. Our analyses show that the populations of this species are structured on a regional scale, with greater genetic differentiation occurring between rather than within populations. Further details of the external morphology and tube structure of S. contortum are revealed through confocal and SEM imaging, and the ecology of this worm is discussed.

Conclusions:
These results shed further insight into the plasticity and adaptability of this siboglinid group to a range of reducing conditions, and into the levels of gene flow that occur between populations of the same species over a global extent.

Text
s12862-015-0559-y.pdf - Version of Record
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (3MB)

More information

Published date: 2015
Keywords: Siboglinidae, Polychaeta, Annelida, Antarctica, Gene flow, Deep-sea, Connectivity, Hydrothermal vent, Cold seep, Biogeography
Organisations: Geochemistry

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 388543
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/388543
ISSN: 1471-2148
PURE UUID: 36bbe3a9-c81a-4837-8f97-1c0f1fce93f0
ORCID for Rachel A. Mills: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9811-246X

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 29 Feb 2016 10:29
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:46

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Magdalena N. Georgieva
Author: Helena Wiklund
Author: James B. Bell
Author: Mari H. Eilertsen
Author: Rachel A. Mills ORCID iD
Author: Crispin T.S. Little
Author: Adrian G. Glover

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×