The discovery of new deep-sea hydrothermal vent communities in the Southern Ocean and implications for biogeography

Rogers, A. D. and Tyler, P. A. and Connelly, D. P. and Copley, J. T. and James, R. and Larter, R. D. and Linse, K. and Mills, R. A. and Naveira Garabato, A. and Pancost, R. D. and Pearce, D. A. and Polunin, N. V. C. and German, C. R. and Shank, T. and Boersch-Supan, P. H. and Alker, B. J. and Aquilina, A. and Bennett, S. A. and Clarke, A. and Dinley, R. J. J. and Graham, A. G. C. and Green, D. R. H. and Hawkes, J. A. and Hepburn, L. and Hilario, A. and Huvenne, V. A. I. and Marsh, L. and Ramírez Llodr\?a, E. and Reid, W. D. K. and Roterman, C. N. and Sweeting, C. J. and Thatje, S. and Zwirglmaier, K.


abstract: Since the first discovery of deep-sea hydrothermal vents along the Gal\?apagos Rift in 1977, numerous vent sites and endemic faunal assemblages have been found along mid-ocean ridges and back-arc basins at low to mid latitudes. These discoveries have suggested the existence of separate biogeographic provinces in the Atlantic and the North West Pacific, the existence of a province including the South West Pacific and Indian Ocean, and a separation of the North East Pacific, North East Pacific Rise, and South East Pacific Rise. The Southern Ocean is known to be a region of high deep-sea species diversity and centre of origin for the global deep-sea fauna. It has also been proposed as a gateway connecting hydrothermal vents in different oceans but is little explored because of extreme conditions. Since 2009 we have explored two segments of the East Scotia Ridge (ESR) in the Southern Ocean using a remotely operated vehicle. In each segment we located deep-sea hydrothermal vents hosting high-temperature black smokers up to 382.8^\circC and diffuse venting. The chemosynthetic ecosystems hosted by these vents are dominated by a new yeti crab (Kiwa n. sp.), stalked barnacles, limpets, peltospiroid gastropods, anemones, and a predatory sea star. Taxa abundant in vent ecosystems in other oceans, including polychaete worms (Siboglinidae), bathymodiolid mussels, and alvinocaridid shrimps, are absent from the ESR vents. These groups, except the Siboglinidae, possess planktotrophic larvae, rare in Antarctic marine invertebrates, suggesting that the environmental conditions of the Southern Ocean may act as a dispersal filter for vent taxa. Evidence from the distinctive fauna, the unique community structure, and multivariate analyses suggest that the Antarctic vent ecosystems represent a new vent biogeographic province. However, multivariate analyses of species present at the ESR and at other deep-sea hydrothermal vents globally indicate that vent biogeography is more complex than previously recognised.

@article{Rogers-etal-2012,
  author = {Rogers, A. D. and Tyler, P. A. and Connelly, D. P. and Copley, J. T. and James, R. and Larter, R. D. and Linse, K. and Mills, R. A. and Naveira~Garabato, A. and Pancost, R. D. and Pearce, D. A. and Polunin, N. V. C. and German, C. R. and Shank, T. and Boersch-Supan, P. H. and Alker, B. J. and Aquilina, A. and Bennett, S. A. and Clarke, A. and Dinley, R. J. J. and Graham, A. G. C. and Green, D. R. H. and Hawkes, J. A. and Hepburn, L. and Hilario, A. and Huvenne, V. A. I. and Marsh, L. and Ram\'{i}rez~Llodr\?{a}, E. and Reid, W. D. K. and Roterman, C. N. and Sweeting, C. J. and Thatje, S. and Zwirglmaier, K.},
  title = {The discovery of new deep-sea hydrothermal vent communities in the Southern Ocean and implications for biogeography},
  journal = plos,
  year = {2012},
  pages = {e1001234},
  volume = {10},
  issue = {1},
  doi = {10.1371/journal.pbio.1001234},
  url = {https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/336367/}
}