Neuhaus Jenny, Linse Katrin, Brix Saskia, Arbizu Pedro Martínez, Taylor James
German Centre for Marine Biodiversity Research (DZMB), c/o Biozentrum Grindel, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg, Germany. E-mail:
British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environmental Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK. E-mail:
Zool Stud. 2024 Sep 4;63:e25. doi: 10.6620/ZS.2024.63-25. eCollection 2024.
Confined by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the European continental shelf, the deep-sea acorn barnacle (Hoek, 1883) lives in the northeast Atlantic deep sea, where it has been frequently reported in high current areas. Cemented to a solid substrate during its entire adult life, the species can only disperse by means of planktotrophic nauplius larvae. This study reports on the occurrence, ecology and genetic connectivity of from four sites within the northeastern Iceland Basin and presents the first record of the species living affiliated with hydrothermal vent field on the Reykjanes Ridge axis. Vent-associated specimens were found to differ extrinsically from their naturally shaded conspecifics by a prominent brown-black shell precipitate. Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy revealed ferromanganese oxides to be the main component of these shell precipitates. Morphometric measurements of shell plates revealed specimens from the vent-associated habitat to be smaller compared to non-venting sites. Molecular species delimitation based on the mitochondrial and nuclear EF1 genetic markers aided species identification and revealed a low intraspecific genetic variability. Our findings suggest a pronounced genetic connectivity of within the studied region and provide a first step towards a biogeographic study. As such, habitats of hydrothermal influence along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge are discussed as possible niches, as are deep-sea basins in the western Atlantic. In light of the reported affiliation with hydrothermal activity, we elaborate on the potential for the sister species (Hoek, 1883) and Araya & Newman, 2018 to utilise equivalent habitats in the Antarctic and Pacific Ocean, respectively. Our record of the unacquainted ecological niche occupation for emphasises the need for further research on bathylasmatid acorn barnacles along the extensive Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where many biological communities remain to be discovered.
受大西洋中脊和欧洲大陆架的限制，深海藤壶（Hoek，1883）生活在东北大西洋深海，在高流区域经常被报道。该物种在整个成年期都附着在固体基质上，只能通过浮游性无节幼虫进行扩散。本研究报告了冰岛东北海盆四个地点的该物种的分布、生态和遗传连通性，并首次记录了该物种与雷克雅内斯海岭轴上的热液喷口区有关联。发现与喷口相关的标本在外观上与自然阴影下的同种个体不同，其外壳有明显的棕黑色沉淀。能量色散光谱显示铁锰氧化物是这些外壳沉淀的主要成分。对壳板的形态测量表明，与非喷口地点相比，与喷口相关栖息地的标本较小。基于线粒体和核EF1遗传标记的分子物种界定有助于物种鉴定，并揭示了种内遗传变异性较低。我们的研究结果表明，在所研究区域内该物种具有明显的遗传连通性，并为生物地理学研究迈出了第一步。因此，讨论了大西洋中脊沿线受热液影响的栖息地以及西大西洋深海盆地作为可能的生态位。鉴于报道的与热液活动的关联，我们阐述了姊妹物种（Hoek，1883）和（Araya & Newman，2018）分别在南极和太平洋利用等效栖息地的可能性。我们对该物种未知生态位占据的记录强调了对沿广阔大西洋中脊的深海藤壶进行进一步研究的必要性，那里仍有许多生物群落有待发现。
