Monterey Bay cold seep infauna: quantitative comparison of bacterial mat meiofauna with non-seep control sites
Buck, K.R.; Barry, J.P. (1998). Monterey Bay cold seep infauna: quantitative comparison of bacterial mat meiofauna with non-seep control sites. Cah. Biol. Mar. 39(3-4): 333-335. https://dx.doi.org/10.21411/CBM.A.BF470C58 In: Cahiers de Biologie Marine. Station Biologique de Roscoff: Paris. ISSN 0007-9723; e-ISSN 2262-3094, more Also appears in:(1998). Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent Biology: Funchal, Madeira, Portugal 20-24 October 1997. Cahiers de Biologie Marine, 39(3-4). Station Biologique de Roscoff: Roscoff. 219-392 pp., more |   |
| Abstract | Cold seeps in Monterey Bay are sites of low fluid discharge from sea floor sediments mediated by one of several geologic processes (Barry et al. 1996, 1997). Sediment in the upper 10 cm of seeps is usually enriched in either hydrogen sulphide or methane or both. The presence of these compounds relatively close to the sediment-water interface supports the development of dense mats of sulphur-oxidizing bacteria (Beggiatoa sp. and Thioploca sp.) and vesicomyid clams (Calyptogena sp.) or other megafauna that utilize sulphide indirectly via nutritional reliance on endosymbiotic chemolithoautotrophic bacteria. Chemosynthetic production at these deep (600-900 m) cold seeps may stimulate other assemblages that either graze directly on seep organisms or indirectly via trophic links with seep and non-seep biota. In shallow water (<10 m) sites dominated by sulphide-oxidizing chemoautotrophic species, up to 50% of the infaunal respiration demands were met through this pathway (Fenchel & Bernard, 1995). Other sulphide-rich marine habitats are also linked to trophic enrichment from chemosynthetic production. This study focuses on the protistan and other meiofaunal organisms inhabiting sediments of cold seeps in Monterey Bay. We present quantitative estimates of their abundance in samples collected from sedimentary habitats at seeps and nearby non-seep control sites. |
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