Habitat Associations in Gastropod Species at East Pacific Rise Hydrothermal Vents (9°50′N)

Mills, Susan W.; Mullineaux, Lauren S.; Tyler, Paul A.

doi:10.2307/25066601

Cited by 29 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 22 publications

(33 reference statements)

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“…In the 9°50′N region, species composition at different vents typically is similar within a zone, but varies substantially between zones (33,35,49). Surfaces used to quantify pre-eruption colonists were selected from a larger sample set from this region of the EPR (35,49,50) (Fig. 1).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Larvae from afar colonize deep-sea hydrothermal vents after a catastrophic eruption

Mullineaux

Adams²,

Mills³

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The planktonic larval stage is a critical component of life history in marine benthic species because it confers the ability to disperse, potentially connecting remote populations and leading to colonization of new sites. Larval-mediated connectivity is particularly intriguing in deep-sea hydrothermal vent communities, where the habitat is patchy, transient, and often separated by tens or hundreds of kilometers. A recent catastrophic eruption at vents near 9°50′N on the East Pacific Rise created a natural clearance experiment and provided an opportunity to study larval supply in the absence of local source populations. Previous field observations have suggested that established vent populations may retain larvae and be largely self-sustaining. If this hypothesis is correct, the removal of local populations should result in a dramatic change in the flux, and possibly species composition, of settling larvae. Fortuitously, monitoring of larval supply and colonization at the site had been established before the eruption and resumed shortly afterward. We detected a striking change in species composition of larvae and colonists after the eruption, most notably the appearance of the gastropod Ctenopelta porifera, an immigrant from possibly more than 300 km away, and the disappearance of a suite of species that formerly had been prominent. This switch demonstrates that larval supply can change markedly after removal of local source populations, enabling recolonization via immigrants from distant sites with different species composition. Population connectivity at this site appears to be temporally variable, depending not only on stochasticity in larval supply, but also on the presence of resident populations.larval dispersal | population connectivity | Ctenopelta | Lepetodrilus | East Pacific Rise I n marine benthic systems, dispersal in a planktonic larval stage influences the dynamics and spatial structure of populations and can be critical for regional persistence of species. It is informative to consider these systems in the framework of metapopulation theory (1) as a balance between extinction and dispersal-mediated colonization. The extent to which a local marine population is open (i.e., the proportion of recruits that come from other locales) may increase its resilience to perturbation (2, 3), but recruitment of progeny back into the natal site also contributes to persistence (4). Larval dispersal between deep-sea hydrothermal vent communities is an intriguing topic in this context because the habitat is spatially disjunct and populations are subject to local extinctions. A major challenge to solving questions of population openness (connectivity) in marine systems, however, is determining whether the source of each recruit is local or remote because the larvae are difficult to track. Consequently, fundamental questions about how vent populations persist and what physical and biological processes control their connectivity remain unresolved despite more than three decades of research (5).Population genetic studi...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Larvae from afar colonize deep-sea hydrothermal vents after a catastrophic eruption

Mullineaux

Adams²,

Mills³

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…On the EPR, communities display a striking zonation in the large foundation species: Pompeii worms live directly on the black smoker chimneys, while giant tubeworms (siboglinid polychaetes, formerly known as vestimentiferans) occur in vigorous "diffuse" (diluted) fluid flux, mussels and clams in moderate flux, and various suspension feeders, including barnacles and serpulid polychaetes, in weak flux (Hessler et al, 1985;Micheli et al, 2002). Smaller species (macro-and meiofauna) also exhibit zonation (Mills et al, 2007;Gollner et al, 2010). Analogous patterns are seen on the Juan de Fuca Ridge, where a species of alvinellid worm dominates the high-flux habitats, while a mixed assemblage of a siboglinid tubeworm, polychaetes, and gastropods inhabit lowerflux environments .…”

Section: Local Controls Of Environment and Species Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Ecology of Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents in a Metacommunity Framework

et al. 2018

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Species inhabiting deep-sea hydrothermal vents are strongly influenced by the geological setting, as it provides the chemical-rich fluids supporting the food web, creates the patchwork of seafloor habitat, and generates catastrophic disturbances that can eradicate entire communities. The patches of vent habitat host a network of communities (a metacommunity) connected by dispersal of planktonic larvae. The dynamics of the metacommunity are influenced not only by birth rates, death rates and interactions of populations at the local site, but also by regional influences on dispersal from different sites. The connections to other communities provide a mechanism for dynamics at a local site to affect features of the regional biota. In this paper, we explore the challenges and potential benefits of applying metacommunity theory to vent communities, with a particular focus on effects of disturbance. We synthesize field observations to inform models and identify data gaps that need to be addressed to answer key questions including: (1) what is the influence of the magnitude and rate of disturbance on ecological attributes, such as time to extinction or resilience in a metacommunity; (2) what interactions between local and regional processes control species diversity, and (3) which communities are "hot spots" of key ecological significance. We conclude by assessing our ability to evaluate resilience of vent metacommunities to human disturbance (e.g., deep-sea mining). Although the resilience of a few highly disturbed vent systems in the eastern Pacific has been quantified, these values cannot be generalized to remote locales in the western Pacific or mid Atlantic where disturbance rates are different and information on local controls is missing.

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“…We focused on obtaining descriptions for the genus Lepetodrilus and 21 for the family Peltospiridae, whose species are abundant and ecologically important (e.g. 22 Mullineaux et al 2003;Van Dover 2003;Govenar et al 2004;Mills et al 2007). 23 Individuals with smaller than average shell length and sufficient adult morphology for 1 species-level identification (herein referred to as juveniles) were screened under a 2 dissecting scope for the preservation of an attached protoconch.…”

Section: Morphological Identification 11mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gastropod abundances 2 and ecological influence across the range of vent habitats make them key players in 3 structuring macrofaunal communities (e.g. Micheli et al 2002;Mullineaux et al 2003;4 Govenar et al 2004;Mills et al 2007). High abundances of gastropod larvae in the 5 plankton (Metaxas 2004;Mullineaux et al 2005), multiple modes of development (Lutz 6 et al 1984;Lutz et al 1986), and relative ease of larval identification (Mullineaux et al 7 1996) allow researchers to address questions such as: how do larval development and 8 behavior, and hydrodynamics combine to disperse and/or retain individuals (Lutz et al 9 1980;Marsh et al 2001;Adams and Mullineaux 2008); and what is the impact of 10 dispersal and recruitment on community structure and dynamics?…”

Section: Introduction 20mentioning

confidence: 99%

Expanding dispersal studies at hydrothermal vents through species identification of cryptic larval forms

et al. 2010

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15The rapid identification of hydrothermal vent-endemic larvae to the species level is a key 16 limitation to understanding the dynamic processes that control the abundance and 17 distribution of fauna in such a patchy and ephemeral environment. Many larval forms 18 collected near vents, even those in groups such as gastropods that often form a 19 morphologically distinct larval shell, have not been identified to species. We present a 20 staged approach that combines morphological and molecular identification to optimize 21 the capability, efficiency, and economy of identifying vent gastropod larvae from the 22 northern East Pacific Rise (NEPR). With this approach, 15 new larval forms can be 23 2 identified to species. A total of 33 of the 41 gastropod species inhabiting the NEPR, and 1 26 of the 27 gastropod species known to occur specifically in the 9° 50' N region, can be 2 identified to species. Morphological identification efforts are improved by new 3 protoconch descriptions for Gorgoleptis spiralis, Lepetodrilus pustulosus, Nodopelta 4 subnoda, and Echinopelta fistulosa. Even with these new morphological descriptions, the 5 majority of lepetodrilids and peltospirids require molecular identification. Restriction 6 fragment length polymorphism digests are presented as an economical method for 7 identification of five species of Lepetodrilus and six species of peltospirids. The 8 remaining unidentifiable specimens can be assigned to species by comparison to an 9 expanded database of 18S ribosomal DNA. The broad utility of the staged approach was 10 exemplified by the revelation of species-level variation in daily planktonic samples and 11 the identification and characterization of egg capsules belonging to a conid gastropod 12Gymnobela sp. A. The improved molecular and morphological capabilities nearly double 13 the number of species amenable to field studies of dispersal and population connectivity. 14 15

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Habitat Associations in Gastropod Species at East Pacific Rise Hydrothermal Vents (9°50′N)

Cited by 29 publications

References 22 publications

Larvae from afar colonize deep-sea hydrothermal vents after a catastrophic eruption

Larvae from afar colonize deep-sea hydrothermal vents after a catastrophic eruption

Exploring the Ecology of Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents in a Metacommunity Framework

Expanding dispersal studies at hydrothermal vents through species identification of cryptic larval forms

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