The first whale fall on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge: Monitoring a year of succession

Silva, Ana Patrícia; Colaço, Ana; Ravara, Ascensão; Jakobsen, Joachim; Jakobsen, K.; Cuvelier, Daphné

doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2021.103662

Cited by 3 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Among adult members of the species, smallersized individuals are observed actively and frequently predating on pinnipeds and small cetaceans, whereas larger individuals show preferences toward scavenging events on huge, fat-rich mysticete carcasses (see Arnold, 1972;Long & Jones, 1996;Hussey et al, 2012). Additionally, carrion has also been recorded as an important food source for other large macrophagous shark species (Smith & Baco, 2003;Smith et al, 2015;Aguzzi et al, 2018;Lea et al, 2018;Tucker et al, 2019;Silva et al, 2021). Considering this, along with the estimated size for † O. megalodon (15-20 m) (Pimiento & Balk, 2015;Pérez et al, 2021;Shimada, 2019;Shimada et al, 2021Shimada et al, , 2023, larger individuals are likely to scavenge carcasses more frequently than smaller ones (see Collareta et al, 2017a).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysing Trophic Competition in †Otodus megalodon and Carcharodon carcharias through 2D-SEM Dental Microwear

Paredes-Aliaga,

Herraiz

2024

Spanish J. Palaeontol.

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Boessenecker et al., 2019). Considering the significant role that modern sharks play in regulating prey communities and ecosystem structure (Ferretti et al., 2010), its extinction likely had a profound impact on the functioning of the ecosystem and the dynamics of the trophic web within ancient marine communities (see Pimiento & Clements, 2014; Cooper et al., 2022). Conventionally, it has been hypothesised that † O. megalodon was constrained to warm temperatures,

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysing Trophic Competition in †Otodus megalodon and Carcharodon carcharias through 2D-SEM Dental Microwear

Paredes-Aliaga,

Herraiz

2024

Spanish J. Palaeontol.

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“…One notable absence in the aggregated footage is any obvious sign of the 'bone-eating' polychaete Osedax, a commonly reported member of whale fall assemblages throughout the deep sea (e.g., Braby et al 2007;Fujiwara et al 2007;Silva et al 2021), including nearby locations in the Western Antarctic Peninsula (Glover et al 2013). When present, these worms are often highly evident on the ribs (J. Alfaro-Lucas, pers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…but were not seen in any location on the present remains. This is somewhat surprising given how rapidly Osedax may colonize whale fall sites (within as little as two weeks to two months; e.g., Onishi et al 2018;Silva et al 2021), and the densities of one species, O. antarcticus, observed on B. bonaerensis bones deployed nearby for 14 months (up to 202 individuals/m 2 ; Glover et al 2013). If present, O. antarcticus should have been readily visible, given their emergent palp length of up to 25 mm and known willingness to colonise vertebrae of this whale species, as observed by Glover et al (2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These sites have received increasing attention since the first direct observations were made 30 years ago (Smith et al 1989), and the diverse reports of whale fall assemblages accumulated in the interim have recently been summarized and reviewed (Smith et al 2015). Decomposing whale remains progress through a series of four recognizable stages of varying duration and dominance as noted by, e.g., Smith and Baco (2003), Smith et al (2015), and Silva et al (2021): 1, 'mobile-scavenger' stage (four months to two years post-fall, characterized by necrophagous scavengers removing soft tissue from carcass); 2, 'enrichment-opportunistic' stage (months to years in duration, marked by dense colonization of polychaetes and crustaceans utilizing organically enriched sediments and exposed bone); 3, 'sulfonic' stage (lasting decades, dominated by an assemblage of sulfur-loving organisms attracted to the sulfide released during anaerobic decomposition of bone and remaining tissue lipids); 4, 'reef stage' (nutrient-depleted bones act as a hard substrate for settlement by opportunistic suspension feeders). In whale falls, the availability of food governs ecological succession of the communities such that as one community type is phasing out due to lack of utilizable resources, another community type is transitioning in (Connell and Slatyer 1977).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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In-situ observations of an intact natural whale fall in Palmer deep, Western Antarctic Peninsula

et al. 2023

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Whale carcasses on the seafloor support unique, ephemeral communities of organisms, and ‘natural’ whale fall sites are infrequently encountered, especially in polar regions. During a manned submersible dive in early 2017, we discovered the skeleton of an Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) at 963 m in Palmer Deep, in the Western Antarctic Peninsula. The site was filmed in HD for approximately two hours, enabling visual identification of representatives from at least eight phyla, although physical sampling was not possible. The remains appeared to be in the late ‘enrichment–opportunistic’ phase (although some mobile scavengers were still present and some sulfonic activity had already commenced), with polychaetes of the order Aciculata, and family Ampharetidae, plus several amphipod species, most abundant. Novel eusirid amphipod and rhodaliid siphonophore taxa were also present. The observed faunal distribution suggests patterns consistent with reports from other Antarctic whale falls (both experimental and natural). This discovery represents the highest-latitude natural whale fall reported to date.

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“…The majority of other annelids reported from this whale fall belong to genera that have been previously observed on whale falls and/or other chemosynthetic habitats. High abundances of protodrilids occurred on whale falls in western Pacific off Japan (Fujiwara et al, 2007), off California (Braby et al, 2007), as well as recently having been observed on Mid-Atlantic Ridge (near the Azores) (Silva et al, 2021). Protodrilids are interstitial annelids with a worldwide distribution (Westheide, 1990), and might thus be expected to appear at whale falls globally.…”

Section: Composition and Diversity Of The Whale-fall Annelid Communitymentioning

confidence: 91%

The annelid community of a natural deep-sea whale fall off eastern Australia

Georgieva¹,

Wiklund²,

Ramos³

et al. 2023

Rec. Aust. Mus.

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In the deep ocean, whale falls (deceased whales that sink to the seafloor) act as a boost of productivity in this otherwise generally food-limited setting, nourishing organisms from sharks to microbes during the various stages of their decomposition. Annelid worms are habitual colonizers of whale falls, with new species regularly reported from these settings and their systematics helping to resolve biogeographic patterns among deep-sea organic fall environments. During a 2017 expedition of the Australian research vessel RV Investigator to sample bathyal to abyssal communities off Australia’s east coast, a natural whale fall was opportunistically trawled at ~1000 m depth. In this study, we provide detailed taxonomic descriptions of the annelids associated with this whale-fall community, using both morphological and molecular techniques. From this material we describe nine new species from five families (Dorvilleidae: Ophryotrocha dahlgreni sp. nov. Ophryotrocha hanneloreae sp. nov., Ophryotrocha ravarae sp. nov.; Hesionidae: Vrijenhoekia timoharai sp. nov.; Nereididae: Neanthes adriangloveri sp. nov., Neanthes visicete sp. nov.; Orbiniidae: Orbiniella jamesi sp. nov.), including two belonging to the bone-eating genus Osedax (Siboglinidae: Osedax waadjum sp. nov., Osedax byronbayensis sp. nov.) that are the first to be described from Australian waters. We further provide systematic accounts for 10 taxa within the Ampharetidae, Amphinomidae, Microphthalmidae, Nereididae, Orbiniidae, Phyllodocidae, Protodrilidae, Sphaerodoridae and Phascolosomatidae. Our investigations uncover unique occurrences and for the first time enable the evaluation of biogeographic links between Australian whale falls and others in the western Pacific as well as worldwide.

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The first whale fall on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge: Monitoring a year of succession

Cited by 3 publications

References 48 publications

Analysing Trophic Competition in †Otodus megalodon and Carcharodon carcharias through 2D-SEM Dental Microwear

Analysing Trophic Competition in †Otodus megalodon and Carcharodon carcharias through 2D-SEM Dental Microwear

In-situ observations of an intact natural whale fall in Palmer deep, Western Antarctic Peninsula

The annelid community of a natural deep-sea whale fall off eastern Australia

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