Institute of Marine Ecosystem and Fishery Science (IMF), Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability (CEN), University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
3. Zoology, Natural History Museum Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Sci Rep. 2023 Sep 22;13(1):15867. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-42942-0.
How far are species distributed on the abyssal plains? Spanning from 3000 to 6000 m below sea level, abyssal plains cover three-quarters of the ocean floor and are the largest but also least explored habitat on Earth. The question of vertical and horizontal distribution is central to understanding biogeographic and population genetic processes within species inhabiting the deep-sea benthos. Amphipod crustaceans are an important and dominant taxon in this ecosystem. As they are brooders, their dispersal capacities are more limited compared to species with free-swimming larvae, and with the exception of a few scavenging species deep-sea amphipods are restricted to a single ocean. Based on an integrative taxonomic approach (morphology, COI, 16S and 18S) we demonstrate the occurrence of a predatory amphipod species, Rhachotropis abyssalis, in three oceans: the Antarctic Ross Sea, the Northwest Pacific and the North Atlantic; regions more than 20,000 km apart. Although such extensive geographic distributions may represent a rare exception for brooding predators, these findings might also be no exception at all, but a reflection of the rare sampling and rare taxonomic investigation of invertebrate predators in the deep-sea. Our findings highlight our abysmal state of knowledge regarding biodiversity and biogeography on abyssal plains.
物种在深海平原上的分布范围有多远？深海平原分布在海平面以下 3000 到 6000 米之间，覆盖了四分之三的海底，是地球上最大但也是探索最少的栖息地。垂直和水平分布的问题是理解栖息在深海海底生物区系和种群遗传过程的核心。端足目甲壳类动物是这个生态系统中的一个重要和优势类群。由于它们是育幼者，与具有自由游动幼虫的物种相比，它们的扩散能力更有限，除了少数几种食腐动物外，深海端足目甲壳类动物只局限于单一的海洋。基于综合分类学方法（形态学、COI、16S 和 18S），我们证明了一种掠食性端足目甲壳动物，深渊拟滨对虾，在三个大洋中存在：南极罗斯海、西北太平洋和北大西洋；这些地区相隔超过 20000 公里。虽然这种广泛的地理分布可能代表了育幼掠食者的罕见例外情况，但这些发现也可能并非例外，而是反映了深海无脊椎掠食动物在抽样和分类调查方面的罕见情况。我们的发现凸显了我们对深海平原生物多样性和生物地理学的知识匮乏。
