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Deep-sea hydrothermal vents as natural egg-case incubators at the Galapagos Rift

Deep-sea hydrothermal vents as natural egg-case incubators at the Galapagos Rift
Deep-sea hydrothermal vents as natural egg-case incubators at the Galapagos Rift

The discovery of deep-sea hydrothermal vents in 1977 challenged our views of ecosystem functioning and yet, the research conducted at these extreme and logistically challenging environments still continues to reveal unique biological processes. Here, we report for the first time, a unique behavior where the deep-sea skate, Bathyraja spinosissima, appears to be actively using the elevated temperature of a hydrothermal vent environment to naturally "incubate" developing egg-cases. We hypothesize that this behavior is directly targeted to accelerate embryo development time given that deep-sea skates have some of the longest egg incubation times reported for the animal kingdom. Similar egg incubating behavior, where eggs are incubated in volcanically heated nesting grounds, have been recorded in Cretaceous sauropod dinosaurs and the rare avian megapode. To our knowledge, this is the first time incubating behavior using a volcanic source is recorded for the marine environment.

2045-2322
Salinas-De-León, Pelayo
2323820b-92ce-49af-99cc-997c4c6834ec
Phillips, Brennan
30546e13-9e55-48bd-a877-5096d59c6c13
Ebert, David
80c3fd90-e7c0-42a8-90be-49f4e42b38ba
Shivji, Mahmood
621c86a5-3cc1-4a90-8c65-ee8d81e81aae
Cerutti-Pereyra, Florencia
25f89178-0679-47ad-bca0-753102af1118
Ruck, Cassandra
a6ffcc24-126f-4727-bb98-5e62f99f9db5
Fisher, Charles R.
41954741-9efa-4361-999c-919ad814677d
Marsh, Leigh
b9d089aa-91e4-4a2e-b716-a7352616c6a2
Salinas-De-León, Pelayo
2323820b-92ce-49af-99cc-997c4c6834ec
Phillips, Brennan
30546e13-9e55-48bd-a877-5096d59c6c13
Ebert, David
80c3fd90-e7c0-42a8-90be-49f4e42b38ba
Shivji, Mahmood
621c86a5-3cc1-4a90-8c65-ee8d81e81aae
Cerutti-Pereyra, Florencia
25f89178-0679-47ad-bca0-753102af1118
Ruck, Cassandra
a6ffcc24-126f-4727-bb98-5e62f99f9db5
Fisher, Charles R.
41954741-9efa-4361-999c-919ad814677d
Marsh, Leigh
b9d089aa-91e4-4a2e-b716-a7352616c6a2

Salinas-De-León, Pelayo, Phillips, Brennan, Ebert, David, Shivji, Mahmood, Cerutti-Pereyra, Florencia, Ruck, Cassandra, Fisher, Charles R. and Marsh, Leigh (2018) Deep-sea hydrothermal vents as natural egg-case incubators at the Galapagos Rift. Scientific Reports, 8 (1), [1788]. (doi:10.1038/s41598-018-20046-4).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The discovery of deep-sea hydrothermal vents in 1977 challenged our views of ecosystem functioning and yet, the research conducted at these extreme and logistically challenging environments still continues to reveal unique biological processes. Here, we report for the first time, a unique behavior where the deep-sea skate, Bathyraja spinosissima, appears to be actively using the elevated temperature of a hydrothermal vent environment to naturally "incubate" developing egg-cases. We hypothesize that this behavior is directly targeted to accelerate embryo development time given that deep-sea skates have some of the longest egg incubation times reported for the animal kingdom. Similar egg incubating behavior, where eggs are incubated in volcanically heated nesting grounds, have been recorded in Cretaceous sauropod dinosaurs and the rare avian megapode. To our knowledge, this is the first time incubating behavior using a volcanic source is recorded for the marine environment.

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s41598-018-20046-4 - Version of Record
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
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Accepted/In Press date: 10 January 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 8 February 2018

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 418241
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/418241
ISSN: 2045-2322
PURE UUID: d8a526d4-96b8-45ae-aba4-f21c5137fc1b

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Date deposited: 26 Feb 2018 17:30
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 18:39

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Contributors

Author: Pelayo Salinas-De-León
Author: Brennan Phillips
Author: David Ebert
Author: Mahmood Shivji
Author: Florencia Cerutti-Pereyra
Author: Cassandra Ruck
Author: Charles R. Fisher
Author: Leigh Marsh

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