First Macro-Colonizers and Survivors Around Tagoro Submarine Volcano, Canary Islands, Spain

Abstract

Tagoro, the youngest submarine volcano of the Canary Islands, erupted in 2011 South of El Hierro Island. Pre-existing sea floor and inhabiting biological communities were buried by the newly erupted material, promoting the appearance of new habitats. The present study pursues to describe the first metazoans colonizing different new habitats formed during the eruption and to create precedent on this field. Through dredge and remote operated vehicle samplings, five main habitat types have been detected based on the substrate type and burial status after the eruption. Inside the Tagoro volcanic complex (TVC), two new habitats are located in and around the summit and main craters—hydrothermal vents with bacterial mats and sulfurous-like fields mainly colonized by small hydrozoan colonies. Two other habitats are located downslope the TVC; new hard substrate and new mixed substrate, holding the highest biodiversity of the TVC, especially at the mixed bottoms with annelids (Chloeia cf. venusta), arthropods (Monodaeus couchii and Alpheus sp.), cnidarians (Sertularella cf. tenella), and molluscs (Neopycnodonte cochlear) as the first colonizers. An impact evaluation was done comparing the communities of those habitats with the complex and well-established community described at the stable hard substrate outside the TVC, which is constituted of highly abundant hydrozoans (Aglaophenia sp.), antipatharians (Stichopates setacea and Antipathes furcata), and colonizing epibionts (e.g., Neopycnodonte cochlear). Three years after the eruption, species numbers at Tagoro were still low compared to those occurring at similar depths outside the TVC. The first dominant species at the TVC included a large proportion of common suspension feeders of the circalittoral and bathyal hard bottoms of the area, which could have exploited the uncolonized hard bottoms and the post eruptive fertilization of water masses.

Offshore Neopycnodonte Oyster Reefs in the Mediterranean Sea

“…It forms aggregations in the Mediterranean offshore and its capability to build up or contribute to reefs is recognized [46,51,52]. However, there is a substantial lack of knowledge regarding this intermediate (mesophotic) oyster, and only a few literature records are available on Neopycnodonte cochlear occurrences (e.g., [52,53]).…”

Bioprospecting Antiproliferative Marine Microbiota From Submarine Volcano Tagoro

“…Although Tagoro submarine volcano dataset has turned into one of the longest and more complete multidisciplinary timeseries for the study of how physical-chemical anomalies impacted over the marine ecosystem (Fraile-Nuez et al, 2012Rivera et al, 2013;Santana-Casiano et al, 2013Ariza et al, 2014;Coca et al, 2014;Eugenio et al, 2014;Blanco et al, 2015;Danovaro et al, 2017;Santana-González et al, 2017;Álvarez-Valero et al, 2018;Sotomayor-García et al, 2019González-Vega et al, 2020), just a few studies have shed light in the characterization of the microbial communities with geologically active marine environments, partly due to the difficulty in collecting samples as well as the eruption prediction and monitoring, usually in remote locations (Ferrera et al, 2015). These previous studies have exhibited the effects of the eruption on the survival and colonization by benthic and demersal species (Sotomayor-García et al, 2019) as well as microorganism communities (Ferrera et al, 2015).…”

Abundance and Structure of the Zooplankton Community During a Post-eruptive Process: The Case of the Submarine Volcano Tagoro (El Hierro; Canary Islands), 2013-2018

“…In October 2011, after more than 15000 earthquakes, a volcanic tremor was registered in the south of the island of El Hierro, indicating the beginning of a submarine eruption. The submarine volcano Tagoro was located 1.8 km south of El Hierro, and the main cone grew from an initial depth of 355 m to a maximum height of 88 m below the sea surface (Fraile-Nuez et al, 2012Sotomayor-García et al, 2019). Tagoro emitted molten material during the first 6 months, affecting a wide area around the island, with different peaks of intensity.…”

“…Following the eruptive stage (March 2012), the Tagoro submarine volcano entered in a hydrothermal moderate phase involving the release of gases, heat, metals, and nutrients from multiple vents dispersed around the main cone (Santana-Casiano et al, 2016;Fraile-Nuez et al, 2018;Sotomayor-García et al, 2019). Currently, the Tagoro volcano exhibits new benthic habitats thriving around the main and secondary craters, colonized by small hydrozoan colonies with a high diversity of annelids, arthropods, cnidarians, and mollusks as the first colonizers (Sotomayor-García et al, 2019).…”

“…Following the eruptive stage (March 2012), the Tagoro submarine volcano entered in a hydrothermal moderate phase involving the release of gases, heat, metals, and nutrients from multiple vents dispersed around the main cone (Santana-Casiano et al, 2016;Fraile-Nuez et al, 2018;Sotomayor-García et al, 2019). Currently, the Tagoro volcano exhibits new benthic habitats thriving around the main and secondary craters, colonized by small hydrozoan colonies with a high diversity of annelids, arthropods, cnidarians, and mollusks as the first colonizers (Sotomayor-García et al, 2019). Although in other submarine volcanic areas the hydrothermal vent emissions have been observed to have a considerable effect on the diversity, abundance, biology, and ecology of the planktonic communities (Tarasov, 2006), no clear impact has yet been proved on the local phytoplankton community at Tagoro volcano (Gómez-Letona et al, 2018).…”