Bacterial symbionts and mineral deposits in the branchial chamber of the hydrothermal vent shrimp Rimicaris exoculata: relationship to moult cycle

Abstract

AB Aquatic Biology Contact the journal Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections AB 1:225-238 (2008) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00024 Bacterial symbionts and mineral deposits in the branchial chamber of the hydrothermal vent shrimp Rimicaris exoculata: relationship to moult cycle Laure Corbari1,*, Magali Zbinden2, Marie-Anne Cambon-Bonavita3, Françoise Gaill2, Philippe Compère1 1Université de Liège, Laboratoire de Morphologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive, Unité de Morphologie Ultrastructurale, Allée de la Chimie, 3, 4000 Liège, Belgium 2UMR CNRS 7138 ‘Systématique, Adaptation et Evolution’, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 7 Quai St Bernard, Bâtiment A, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France 3Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Biotechnologie des Extrêmophiles, IFREMER, Centre de Brest, BP 70, 29280 Plouzané, France *Email: lcorbari@ulg.ac.be ABSTRACT: The shrimp Rimicaris exoculata is considered a primary consumer that dominates the fauna of most Mid-Atlantic Ridge hydrothermal ecosystems. The shrimps harbour in their gill chamber an important ectosymbiotic community of chemoautotrophic bacteria associated with iron oxide deposits. The settlement and development of this ectosymbiosis was investigated using microscopy techniques (light microscopy, LM; and scanning, transmission and environmental scanning electron microscopy: SEM and ESEM, respectively) for shrimps from 2 different vent fields (Rainbow, 36°14.0’N and TAG, 26°08.0’N). The results revealed a bacterial re-colonisation after each exuviation and a development of the bacterial community in 5 steps in relation to the moult stages, which were used as a reference time scale. In 287 shrimps from both vent fields, pre-ecdysial stages prevailed in the population, suggesting a short anecdysis and high moulting rate, probably to renew the ectosymbiosis. Comparisons with moult cycles of littoral shrimps suggest that the interval between successive exuviations in R. exoculata may be as short as 10 d. The colours of R. exoculata result from accumulation of iron oxide, which forms a bacteria-associated mineral crust in the gill chambers. The close correspondence between moult stages, the development of the ectosymbiont community and shrimp colours indicate that colour could be used to rapidly determine shrimp moult stages. KEY WORDS: Hydrothermal vents · Shrimp · Moult cycle · Ectosymbiosis · Iron oxides Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Corbari L, Zbinden M, Cambon-Bonavita M, Gaill F, Compère P (2008) Bacterial symbionts and mineral deposits in the branchial chamber of the hydrothermal vent shrimp Rimicaris exoculata: relationship to moult cycle. Aquat Biol 1:225-238. https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00024 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in AB Vol. 1, No. 3. Online publication date: January 15, 2008 Print ISSN: 1864-7782; Online ISSN: 1864-7790 Copyright © 2008 Inter-Research.