Enhanced biodiversity in the deep: Early Pleistocene coral communities from southern Italy

Geronimo, I. Di; Messina, Carlo; Rosso, Antonietta; Sanfilippo, Rossana; Sciuto, Francesco; Vertino, Agostina

doi:10.1007/3-540-27673-4_4

Cited by 31 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…is nevertheless unusual for the Mediterranean deep sea, usually reported as being less diverse than other adjacent basins such as the Atlantic Ocean. At similar depths, thanatocoenoses were reported as "rich" with 61 species off NW Sicily (Di Geronimo et al 2005). In the area of S. Maria di Leuca, off SE Italy, Negri and Corselli (2011) reported as many as 112 species of molluscs, but this was in the context of a broader sampling including 24 different box cores, not at a single site as here.…”

Section: Numbers Of Species Diversity and New Recordsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Mollusca from a species-rich deep-water <em>Leptometra</em> community in the Alboran Sea

Gofas¹,

Salas²,

Rueda³

et al. 2014

Sci. Mar.

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Summary: An exceptional species richness for Mollusca was found on Avempace bank (349-365 m), Djibouti group, Alboran Sea, where the most abundant species was the crinoid Leptometra phalangium. A sample of sediment sieved on a 0.5-mm mesh yielded 156 species of molluscs (83 live-taken, 1772 specimens) with a high Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H' (log2) =3.60). The dominant mollusc was Limopsis aurita and the six most common species accounted for 77% of the specimens. On the other hand, 42 species were represented by only one or two specimens. Two species are described as new, three more are first findings in the Mediterranean and two are first findings in Iberian waters. One-third of the species have not been reported from the neighbouring, well-explored Alboran Island platform. There is a considerable balance between the trophic groups, denoting a stable and structured community. Most of the species have an extensive Atlantic range, and most have a planktonic larval stage. Therefore, it can be hypothesized that the fauna benefits from a diverse influx of larvae carried in by the more superficial incoming Atlantic current. Because of its exceptional richness, this type of bathyal community with Leptometra and Limopsis should be considered a high priority for habitat conservation in the Mediterranean deep sea.Keywords: species diversity; taxonomy; dominant species; trophic structure; geographical distribution; bathyal zone; Leptometra phalangium; marine molluscs. Moluscos de una comunidad profunda de Leptometra rica en especies en el mar de AlboránResumen: Se encontró una excepcional riqueza específica de moluscos en el banco Avempace (349-365 m), grupo de Djibouti, mar de Alborán, donde la especie más abundante fue el crinoideo Leptometra phalangium. En una muestra de sedimento tamizada sobre una malla de 0.5 mm se hallaron 156 especies de moluscos (83 con ejemplares vivos) y 1772 ejemplares, con un alto valor del índice de diversidad Shannon-Wiener (H' (log2) =3.60). El molusco dominante era Limopsis aurita y las seis especies más comunes eran el 77% de los ejemplares. Por otro lado, 42 especies estuvieron representadas únicamente por uno o dos ejemplares. Dos especies se describen como nuevas; tres más son primera cita para el Mediterráneo y dos son primera cita en aguas ibéricas. Un tercio de las especies no están citadas en la plataforma de la vecina isla de Alborán, por su parte bastante estudiada. La representación de los distintos grupos tróficos es equilibrada, denotando una comunidad estable y estructurada. La mayoría de las especies tienen una amplia distribución en el Atlántico y una fase larvaria planctónica. Por lo tanto se supone que la fauna se beneficia de un aporte diverso de larvas por la corriente superficial que entra desde el Atlántico. Por su excepcional riqueza, este tipo de comunidad batial con Leptometra y Limopsis merece considerarse prioritaria para la conservación de hábitats profundos del mar Mediterráneo.Palabras clave: diversidad especifica; taxonomía; especies dominantes; estruc...

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Section: Numbers Of Species Diversity and New Recordsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Mollusca from a species-rich deep-water <em>Leptometra</em> community in the Alboran Sea

Gofas¹,

Salas²,

Rueda³

et al. 2014

Sci. Mar.

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“…Plio-Pleistocene cool-water biocalcarenitic-dominated sediments, forming isolated or clustered coastal wedges, represent one of the most common types of deposits crop-ping out along the northeastern coast of Sicily (Southern Italy) [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. These deposits are mainly formed by mixed siliciclastic and bioclastic fractions derived from the local bedrock units and skeletal fragments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tectonics and sedimentation of the Lower and Middle Pleistocene mixed siliciclastic/bioclastic sedimentary successions of the Ionian Peloritani Mts (NE Sicily, Southern Italy): the onset of opening of the Messina Strait

Stefano

Longhitano

2009

Open Geosciences

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Biostratigraphic analyses carried out on siliciclastic/bioclastic deposits discontinuously cropping out along the Ionian flank of NE Sicily, indicate that they form two sedimentary events of Early and Middle Pleistocene, respec tively. Vertical facies successions, showing transgressive trends, suggest that sedimentation occurred within semi-enclosed marine embayments, where sublittoral coastal wedges developed on steep ramp-type shelves. Sediments accumulated in shoreface to offshore transitions along steep bottom profiles. This depositional scenario was strongly conditioned by the tectonic activity of the rift zone linking Western Calabria and Eastern Sicily. The effects of glacio-eustatism were also recognized. According to our reconstruction, the study area was controlled by a transfer fault system which affected the coastal margin producing major episodes of uplift and subsidence. Block-faulting was responsible for significant cannibalization and recycling of older deposits during the Middle Pleistocene. Such a tectonic setting can be considered the precursor scenario for the formation of the Messina Strait between Calabria and Sicily. This narrow, linear basin influences the hydrodynamic setting of sublittoral deposits along the Ionian coast of Sicily, giving rise to strong flood/ebb tidal currents. The uppermost part of the Middle Pleistocene succession recognized in the study area is indeed dominated by tide-influenced associations of sedimentary structures which most likely record the first stage of the opening of this ‘seaway’ of the central Mediterranean Sea.

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“…In the surroundings of the Straits of Messina the intense and continuous tectonic activity forced some deposits to lift up even more than 1,000 m. An exemplary case of intense uplift is that of the Middle-Late Pleistocene epi-mesobathyal deposits at Contrada Zura, at few kilometres west from Capo Milazzo (Di Geronimo et al, 2005;Sciuto and Rosso, 2008;Di Stefano et al, 2012). Therefore, the Plio-Pleistocene bathyal facies, rarely exposed elsewhere, crop out in this area.…”

Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…This is mainly caused by the oligotrophic setting of the deep Mediterranean, due to the high Gibraltar sill that isolates the deep part of the basin (Emig and Geistdoerfer, 2004) and to the high temperature and salinity conditions representing unfavourable settings for the establishment of benthic species with planktotrophic larval development (Bouchet and Taviani, 1992). Whereas flourishing of the bathyal component manifested during the Mediterranean Middle Pleistocene, severe impoverishment of the bathyal Mediterranean benthos occurred during the Würm glaciation when new palaeoceanographical conditions (homeothermy) were established in the Mediterranean in place of the psychrospheric setting (Emig and Geistdoerfer, 2004;Di Geronimo et al, 2005). Within this palaeoceanographical panorama of faunal impoverishment, the echinoid assemblages are no exception.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plio-Pleistocene Mediterranean bathyal echinoids: evidence of adaptation to psychrospheric conditions and affinities with Atlantic assemblages

Borghi¹,

Garilli²,

Bonomo

2014

Palaeontologia Electronica

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Borghi, Enrico, Garilli, Vittorio, and Bonomo, Sergio. 2014 ABSTRACTPalaeontological evidences of autochthonous deep-water echinoids are so rare that the well-preserved assemblage herein described from the Plio-Pleistocene of Capo Milazzo (NE Sicily) provide an important opportunity to investigate the biodiversity of the bathyal echinoids in the Mediterranean late Cenozoic. The low diversity fauna studied is dominated by Cidaris margaritifera, Histocidaris sicula and Stirechinus scillae, which are species closely related to Recent echinoids today confined to the western Atlantic deep bottoms. The echinoid assemblages of Capo Milazzo and of the Plio-Pleistocene Argille Azzurre Formation (Italy) share a number of species, most of which are known also from shallow water Plio-Pleistocene deposits and the presentday Mediterranean; C. margaritifera is the only strictly bathyal echinoid that occurs in both formations. The palaeoecological study of these echinoids indicates an epibenthic way of life on muddy bottoms, in deep waters with psychrospheric conditions. The following species from the Argille Azzurre are interpreted as strictly bathyal: Histocidaris rosaria, Schizaster braidensis and Schizaster ovatus (transferred into the genus Holanthus). The modern Mediterranean (impoverished) deep-water echinoid assemblage has north-eastern Atlantic affinities and, with the exception of Holanthus expergitus, all the Mediterranean species found at bathyal depth are eurybathic, as they live also in shelf settings. In contrast, the bathyal echinoids of Capo Milazzo show strongest affinities with strictly deep-water western Atlantic species, particularly those of the Caribbean area. They vanished from the Mediterranean during the Quaternary due to the loss of psychrospheric conditions. Based on the Punta Mazza section, dated by nannofossils and data from literature, their stratigraphic range at Capo Milazzo is late Piacenzian-Calabrian.

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Enhanced biodiversity in the deep: Early Pleistocene coral communities from southern Italy

Cited by 31 publications

References 18 publications

Mollusca from a species-rich deep-water <em>Leptometra</em> community in the Alboran Sea

Mollusca from a species-rich deep-water <em>Leptometra</em> community in the Alboran Sea

Tectonics and sedimentation of the Lower and Middle Pleistocene mixed siliciclastic/bioclastic sedimentary successions of the Ionian Peloritani Mts (NE Sicily, Southern Italy): the onset of opening of the Messina Strait

Plio-Pleistocene Mediterranean bathyal echinoids: evidence of adaptation to psychrospheric conditions and affinities with Atlantic assemblages

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