A Multidisciplinary Approach to Investigate Deep-Pelagic Ecosystem Dynamics in the Gulf of Mexico Following Deepwater Horizon

Cook, April; Bernard, Andrea M.; Boswell, Kevin M.; Bracken‐Grissom, Heather D.; D’Elia, Marta; deRada, Sergio; Easson, Cole G.; English, Diana P.; Eytan, Ron I.; Frank, Tamara M.; Hu, Chuanmin; Johnston, Matthew W.; Judkins, Heather; Lembke, Chad; Lopez, Jose V.; Milligan, Rosanna; Moore, Jon A.; Penta, Bradley; Pruzinsky, Nina; Quinlan, Jennifer J.; Richards, Travis M.; Romero, Isabel C.; Shivji, Mahmood S.; Vecchione, Michael; Weber, Max; Wells, R. J. David; Sutton, Tracey

doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.548880

Cited by 22 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 49 publications

(60 reference statements)

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“…In the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM), the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (DWHOS) occurred at ∼1,500 m depth in April 2010 and exposed a deficiency in baseline data for deep-sea ecosystems in the GOM and beyond (Ramirez-Llodra et al, 2011;Fisher et al, 2016). The adult stages of mesopelagic fishes have long been studied in the GOM, albeit on a limited spatial scale (see Hopkins et al, 1996) or without depth-discrete sampling (Murdy et al, 1983); focus on quantifying the ecology of the mesopelagic GOM, including fishes, has increased dramatically in the wake of DWHOS (Cook et al, 2020). Mesopelagic fish larvae, however, receive little targeted attention in the GOM.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assemblage Structure of Larval Fishes in Epipelagic and Mesopelagic Waters of the Northern Gulf of Mexico

2021

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The early life stages of fishes play a critical role in pelagic food webs and oceanic carbon cycling, yet little is known about the taxonomic composition and distribution of larval fishes in the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) below the epipelagic (<200 m). Here, we provide the first large-scale characterization of larval fish assemblages in the GOM across epipelagic, mesopelagic, and bathypelagic regions (0–1,500 m), using samples collected during the Natural Resource Damage Assessment conducted following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DWHOS). These data contain > 130,000 ichthyoplankton specimens from depth-discrete plankton samples collected across 48 stations in the GOM during six cruises conducted in 2010 and 2011. We examined indices of abundance and diversity, and used a multivariate regression tree approach to model the relationship between larval fish assemblages and environmental conditions. The total abundance of larval fish followed a generally decreasing trend with increasing depth, and family-level richness and diversity were significantly higher in the epipelagic than mesopelagic and bathypelagic regions. Fourteen distinct assemblage groups were identified within the epipelagic, with depth, surface salinity, and season contributing to the major branches separating groups. Within the mesopelagic, seven distinct assemblage groups were identified and were largely explained by variation in depth, season, and surface temperature. Bathypelagic assemblages were poorly described by environmental conditions. The most common epipelagic assemblage groups were widely distributed across the GOM, as were all mesopelagic assemblage groups, suggesting limited horizontal structuring of GOM larval fishes. Of the mesopelagic-associated fish taxa, four dominant families (Myctophidae, Gonostomatidae, Sternoptychidae, Phosichthyidae) comprised the majority of the catch in both the epipelagic (63%) and combined mesopelagic and bathypelagic (97%) regions. Dufrêne-Legendre indicator analysis confirmed that these dominant families were characteristic of epipelagic and mesopelagic assemblages; the larvae of less common mesopelagic-associated families largely identified with epipelagic assemblage groups. A lack of baseline data about the distribution patterns of early life stages of mesopelagic fishes in the GOM was apparent following the DWHOS, and these findings provide a valuable reference point in the face of future ecosystem stressors.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assemblage Structure of Larval Fishes in Epipelagic and Mesopelagic Waters of the Northern Gulf of Mexico

2021

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“…Among the limited material collected in the net we found the amphipod that is described in this paper. For more details on the sorting and processing of the collected sample see (Cook et al, 2020;Varela et al, 2021). The vouchered material has been deposited in the National Museum of Natural History (USNM #1645589).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

First record of the genus Oediceroides (Amphipoda: Amphilochidea: Oedicerotidae) for the Gulf of Mexico, with the description of a new species

Varela

Bracken‐Grissom

2021

Novit. Caribaea

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The genus Oediceroides Stebbing, 1888 represents a group of 23 species of amphipods that live from shallow coastal areas to abyssal plains. Most of these species have been collected in deep waters from localities in the South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and only one species has been found in the Mediterranean Sea. Many oediceroids inhabit waters more than 200 meters deep with only four species confined to shallow waters. This is the first occasion in which a species belonging to the genus Oediceroides is recorded for the Gulf of Mexico. Here, we describe O. improvisus sp. nov., a species of marine deep-water amphipod collected in 925 meters of water. This species has carapace, mouthpart and pereopodal characters that unite it with other members of the genus. It differs from all other species due to unique rostral and pereopod seven characters, all discussed in detail further in this description. To date, only 20 deep-sea (>200 meters) benthic amphipods have been recorded in the Gulf of Mexico, in comparison with more than 200 species of shallow water representatives from the same region. Our study provides evidence that the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico still hold undescribed biodiversity.

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“…We selected thirteen deep-pelagic species that span taxonomic groups, life histories, and vertical migration behavior (See Supplementary Table 2). Samples were obtained by trawling with a MOCNESS net system in depth zones up to 1,500 meters in the northern Gulf of Mexico (Cook et al 2020) (Figure 1). Upon collection and identification of vouchers at sea, a ~1cm piece of lateral muscle tissue was preserved in ethanol.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sea Surface Temperatures Drive Historical Demography of Deep-Sea Fishes

Weber

Carter

Eytan

2021

Preprint

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Demographic histories are largely understood to be a product of their environment, as populations expand or contract in response to major environmental changes. Deep-pelagic fishes inhabit one of the most temporally and spatially stable habitats on the planet, so they may be resistant to the demographic instability commonly reported in other marine habitats, but their demographic histories are poorly understood. We reconstructed the demographic histories of thirteen species of deep-pelagic fishes using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data. We uncovered widespread evidence of demographic expansion in our study species, a counterintuitive result bases on the nature of the deep-pelagic. The frequency-based methods detected potential demographic changes in eleven species, while the Extended Bayesian Skyline Plots were more conservative and identified population expansion in five species. The dates of expansion largely coincide with periods of warm sea-surface temperature at the northern and southern boundaries for the ranges these species inhabit. We suggest that this is the result of the pelagic larval phase shared by most deep-pelagic fishes, where the larvae inhabit the upper 200 meters. Changes in sea surface conditions likely alter the suitability of the habitat in a given region for the larval phase, affecting the species range and in turn population size. These results are critical to our understanding of how the deep-pelagic fish community will respond to future climatic changes.

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A Multidisciplinary Approach to Investigate Deep-Pelagic Ecosystem Dynamics in the Gulf of Mexico Following Deepwater Horizon

Cited by 22 publications

References 49 publications

Assemblage Structure of Larval Fishes in Epipelagic and Mesopelagic Waters of the Northern Gulf of Mexico

Assemblage Structure of Larval Fishes in Epipelagic and Mesopelagic Waters of the Northern Gulf of Mexico

First record of the genus Oediceroides (Amphipoda: Amphilochidea: Oedicerotidae) for the Gulf of Mexico, with the description of a new species

Sea Surface Temperatures Drive Historical Demography of Deep-Sea Fishes

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