Tubeworm-associated permanent meiobenthic communities from two chemically different hydrothermal vent sites on the East Pacific Rise

Type Article
Date 2007-05
Language English
Author(s) Gollner Sabine1, Zekely Julia1, Govenar Breea2, 5, Le Bris Nadine3, Nemeschkal Hans L.4, Fisher Charles R.2, Bright Monika1
Affiliation(s) 1 : Univ Vienna, Dept Marine Biol, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
2 : Penn State Univ, Dept Biol, University Pk, PA 16802 USA.
3 : IFREMER, Ctr Brest, Dept Environm Profond, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
4 : Univ Vienna, Dept Theoret Biol, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
5 : Woods Hole Oceanog Inst, Dept Biol, Woods Hole, MA 02543 USA.
Source Marine Ecology Progress Series (0171-8630) (Inter-Research), 2007-05 , Vol. 337 , P. 39-49
DOI 10.3354/meps337039
WOS© Times Cited 36
Keyword(s) Riftia pachyptila, Community study, Copepods, Nematodes, East Pacific Rise, Hydrothermal vent, Meiofauna, Meiobenthos
Abstract The permanent meiobenthic community associated with aggregations of the tubeworm Riftia pachyptila was characterized at 2 different hydrothermal vent sites, Tica and Riftia Field, on the East Pacific Rise near 9 degrees 50'N. The maximum effluent temperatures were similar at both sites, but the chemistry of the hydrothermal fluids differed between sites. The abundance of meiobenthos was very low in 5 out of 6 samples (<61 ind. 10 cm(-2)) and was higher at Tica (20 to 976 ind. 10 cm(-2)) than at Riftia Field (< 1 to 12 ind. 10 cm(-2)). Meiobenthos abundance was positively correlated with the volume of sediment within the tubeworm aggregations. Sediment consisted mainly of particulate organic material and contained only a few mineral grains. A total of 33 meiobenthic species (15 of them new to science) was identified, comprising nematodes, copepods, ostracods, tanaidaceans, and foraminiferans. The meiobenthic fauna contributed a third to the total species richness in the benthic community associated with these tubeworm aggregations. There were 19 meiobenthic species shared between the 2 sites. The majority of meiobenthic species were first-order primary consumers. The most abundant taxa were nematodes and copepods, and other taxa were rare at both sites. Nematodes numerically dominated the community at Tica, while no clear dominance of a higher taxon could be detected at Riftia Field. Species richness was similar at both sites, whereas Shannon-Wiener diversity index and Pielou's evenness index were higher at Riftia Field. Due to the differences in the relative abundance of some species and unique occurrence of others at each site, the meiobenthic communities from the 2 different sites had an average Bray-Curtis dissimilarity of almost 70%.
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Gollner Sabine, Zekely Julia, Govenar Breea, Le Bris Nadine, Nemeschkal Hans L., Fisher Charles R., Bright Monika (2007). Tubeworm-associated permanent meiobenthic communities from two chemically different hydrothermal vent sites on the East Pacific Rise. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 337, 39-49. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.3354/meps337039 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/2623/