Identifying zooplankton community changes between shallow and upper-mesophotic reefs on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, Caribbean.

Dominic A Andradi-Brown,Christina L Hunt,Alex D Rogers,Catherine E I Head,Dan A Exton,Erika Gress,Alicia Hendrix

doi:10.7717/peerj.2853

Dominic A Andradi-Brown, Christina L Hunt + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2853

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Journal: PeerJ	Publication Date: Jan 5, 2017
Citations: 10	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Oxford, Operation Wallacea

Abstract

Mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs, reefs 30–150 m) are understudied, yet the limited research conducted has been biased towards large sessile taxa, such as scleractinian corals and sponges, or mobile taxa such as fishes. Here we investigate zooplankton communities on shallow reefs and MCEs around Utila on the southern Mesoamerican Barrier Reef using planktonic light traps. Zooplankton samples were sorted into broad taxonomic groups. Our results indicate similar taxonomic zooplankton richness and overall biomass between shallow reefs and MCEs. However, the abundance of larger bodied (>2 mm) zooplanktonic groups, including decapod crab zoea, mysid shrimps and peracarid crustaceans, was higher on MCEs than shallow reefs. Our findings highlight the importance of considering zooplankton when identifying broader reef community shifts across the shallow reef to MCE depth gradient.

Highlights

Tropical coral ecosystems are some of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet (Sala & Knowlton, 2006), with light-dependent scleractinian corals extending from the surface down to approximately 150–165 m depth (Maragos & Jokiel, 1986; Kahng & Maragos, 2006)
Most of the limited work on Mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) has focused on large sessile taxa, such as scleractinian corals and sponges, or large mobile taxa such as fishes (Kahng et al, 2010; Kahng, Copus & Wagner, 2014)
Utila is located off the north shore of Honduras, with its reefs forming the southern extent of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef

Summary

Introduction

Tropical coral ecosystems are some of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet (Sala & Knowlton, 2006), with light-dependent scleractinian corals extending from the surface down to approximately 150–165 m depth (Maragos & Jokiel, 1986; Kahng & Maragos, 2006). Mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs; Hinderstein et al, 2010), reefs from 30 m to approximately 150 m, are increasingly recognized as containing important components of reef diversity both as refuge habitats for shallow reefs and as unique ecological assemblages that need protection in their own right (Bongaerts et al, 2010; Bridge et al, 2013; Andradi-Brown et al, 2016a). Most of the limited work on MCEs has focused on large sessile taxa, such as scleractinian corals and sponges, or large mobile taxa such as fishes (Kahng et al, 2010; Kahng, Copus & Wagner, 2014). It has, been estimated that 168,000 invertebrate species have. Most biodiversity on reefs is comprised of small mobile invertebrates, many of which are cryptic and found associated with other sessile reef fauna or in the zooplankton (Fautin et al, 2010; Plaisance et al, 2011; Head et al, 2015)

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