Bathymetric Shifts Research Articles

The sensory impacts of climate change: bathymetric shifts and visually mediated interactions in aquatic species.

Visual perception is, in part, a function of the ambient illumination spectrum. In aquatic environments, illumination depends upon the water's optical properties and depth, both of which can change due to anthropogenic impacts: turbidity is increasing in many aquatic habitats, and many species have shifted deeper in response to warming surface waters (known as bathymetric shifts). Although increasing turbidity and bathymetric shifts can result in similarly large changes to a species' optical environment, no studies have yet examined the impact of the latter on visually mediated interactions. Here, we examine a potential link between climate change and visual perception, with a focus on colour. We discuss (i) what is known about bathymetric shifts; (ii) how the impacts of bathymetric shifts on visual interactions may be distributed across species; (iii) which interactions might be affected; and (iv) the ways that animals have to respond to these changes. As warming continues and temperature fluctuations grow more extreme, many species may move into even deeper waters. There is thus a need for studies that examine how such shifts can affect an organism's visual world, interfere with behaviour, and impact fitness, population dynamics, and community structure.

Non-condensed shell beds in hiatal successions: instantaneous cementation associated with nutrient-rich bottom currents and high bivalve production

Pelagic carbonate deposits formed by the thin-shelled, epifaunal, originally bimineralic bivalve Bositra buchi were geographically widely distributed in the Tethyan basins during the Middle Jurassic. Here, to evaluate conditions that allowed the formation of peculiar, metre-scale, densely-packed shell beds primarily formed by Bositra, we assess size distributions and preservation of this bivalve in thin sections at ten sites in the Pieniny Klippen Belt and Peri-Klippen units (Western Carpathians), representing a bathymetric transect from pelagic-platform tops with shell beds up to slope environments where small filaments occur with spicules and radiolarians. Although Bositra shell beds are modulated by transport and winnowing, three types of evidence indicate that they primarily reflect high bivalve productivity. First, we find that size distributions of this species form a bathymetric gradient, from the dominance of remains smaller than 0.5 mm in low- energy slope environments, to 0.5-2 mm on muddy platform edges, up to lensoid shell beds with large valves (~2-15 mm) occurring on platform tops exposed to bottom currents. Although sediment winnowing from shell beds contributed to the rarity of small-sized specimens in platform-top environments, the bathymetric shift in the shape of size distributions is not purely driven by fragmentation and by size-selective transport of small specimens into slope environments because the average valve thickness declines with depth and thick fragments do not occur in slope environments. High abundances of suspension-feeding Bositra preferentially associated with indicators of bottom currents at oligophotic or aphotic depths indicate that plankton productivity was probably sourced by nutrient-rich internal waves that intersected platform tops, leading to low juvenile mortality in Bositra populations. In contrast, populations in deeper environments with the limited input of particulate organic matter failed to achieve maturity. Second, the inner, originally nacreous shell layer of Bositra is now represented by neomorphic calcite that is luminescent, enriched in Mn and depleted in Mg, indicating that this layer was not dissolved in the taphonomic active zone. Third, fibrous- acicular low-Mg calcite cements that characteristically coat Bositra in shell beds show blotchy luminescence and highly irregular Mg distribution, indicating that they were precipitated as high-Mg calcite cements. Fibrous-acicular cements in shell beds do not coat upward- facing sides of valves covered by a first phase of micrite whereas they fully coat elevated portions of the same valves. Therefore, they were precipitated at very high rates concurrently with micrite deposition in shelters. Nutrient-rich bottom currents thus simultaneously increased (1) Bositra survivorship by enhancing primary productivity and (2) cementation rate by renewal of saturation of pore waters in the taphonomic active zone at platform tops. In spite of the association of Bositra shell beds with major hiatal surfaces, (1) the rapid precipitation of fibrous-acicular cements, (2) the rarity of iron-stained Bositra valves in shell beds, and (3) the significantly smaller concentrations of iron in shell-rich muds than in shell-poor muds indicate that shell beds do not represent long-term hiatal or lag concentrations. They rather represent composite shell beds that record high population densities of these bivalves at ecological time scales. Spatial variation in intensity of bottom currents and in sea- floor topography generated by faulted blocks resulted (1) in hiatal surfaces with mineralized hardgrounds at high-energy current-swept sites and (2) in preservation of up to 1 m-thick lensoid shell beds at sites with less intense but persistent currents. Bositra shell beds thus ultimately have patchy horizontal and stratigraphic distribution.

The importance of offshore origination revealed through ophiuroid phylogenomics.

Our knowledge of macro-evolutionary processes in the deep sea is poor, leading to much speculation about whether the deep sea is a source or sink of evolutionary adaptation. Here, we use a phylogenetic approach, on large molecular (688 species, 275 kbp) and distributional datasets (104 513 records) across an entire class of marine invertebrates (Ophiuroidea), to infer rates of bathymetric range shift over time between shallow and deep water biomes. Biome conservation is evident through the phylogeny, with the majority of species in most clades distributed within the same bathome. Despite this, bathymetric shifts have occurred. We inferred from ancestral reconstructions that eurybathic or intermediate distributions across both biomes were a transitional state and direct changes between shallow and deep sea did not occur. The macro-evolutionary pattern of bathome shift appeared to reflect micro-evolutionary processes of bathymetric speciation. Results suggest that most of the oldest clades have a deep-sea origin, but multiple colonization events indicate that the evolution of this group conforms neither to a simple onshore-offshore hypothesis, nor the opposite pattern. Both shallow and deep bathomes have played an important role in generating the current diversity of this major benthic class.

Inertial bioluminescence rhythms at the Capo Passero (KM3NeT-Italia) site, Central Mediterranean Sea

In the deep sea, the sense of time is dependent on geophysical fluctuations, such as internal tides and atmospheric-related inertial currents, rather than day-night rhythms. Deep-sea neutrino telescopes instrumented with light detecting Photo-Multiplier Tubes (PMT) can be used to describe the synchronization of bioluminescent activity of abyssopelagic organisms with hydrodynamic cycles. PMT readings at 8 different depths (from 3069 to 3349 m) of the NEMO Phase 2 prototype, deployed offshore Capo Passero (Sicily) at the KM3NeT-Italia site, were used to characterize rhythmic bioluminescence patterns in June 2013, in response to water mass movements. We found a significant (p < 0.05) 20.5 h periodicity in the bioluminescence signal, corresponding to inertial fluctuations. Waveform and Fourier analyses of PMT data and tower orientation were carried out to identify phases (i.e. the timing of peaks) by subdividing time series on the length of detected inertial periodicity. A phase overlap between rhythms and cycles suggests a mechanical stimulation of bioluminescence, as organisms carried by currents collide with the telescope infrastructure, resulting in the emission of light. A bathymetric shift in PMT phases indicated that organisms travelled in discontinuous deep-sea undular vortices consisting of chains of inertially pulsating mesoscale cyclones/anticyclones, which to date remain poorly known.

Changes in habitat utilization of slope-spawning flatfish across a bathymetric gradient

AbstractUnderstanding how fish distributions may change in response to environmental variability is important for effective management of fish populations, as predicted climate change will likely alter their habitat use and population dynamics. This research focused on two commercially- and ecologically-important flatfish species in the eastern Bering Sea (EBS), Greenland halibut ( Reinhardtius hippoglossoides ) and Pacific halibut ( Hippoglossus stenolepis ), which may be especially sensitive to climate-induced shifts in habitat due to strong seasonally and ontogenetically variable distributions. We analysed data from fishery-dependent and fishery-independent sources to determine how environmental variability influenced habitat use, thus gaining a uniquely comprehensive range of seasonal and geographic coverage of each species’ distribution. Greenland and Pacific halibut exhibited strong and contrasting responses to changes in temperature on the shelf, with catches decreasing and increasing, respectively, beyond 1 °C. The effect of temperature was not as prominent along the slope, suggesting that slope habitats may provide some insulation from shelf-associated environmental variability, particularly for Greenland halibut. With warming, Greenland halibut exhibited more of a bathymetric shift in distribution, while the shift was more latitudinal for Pacific halibut. Our results suggest that habitat partitioning may, in part, explain differences in Greenland and Pacific halibut distributions. This research adds to our understanding of how the distributions of two fish species at opposite extremes of their ranges in the EBS – Greenland halibut at the southernmost edge and Pacific halibut at the northernmost edge – may shift in relation to a changing ocean environment.

The metabolic cost of developing under hydrostatic pressure: experimental evidence supports macroecological pattern

Hydrostatic pressure is the most constant physical parameter on Earth. It increases linearly with water depth and is stable over evolutionary timescales. Despite this, bathymetric shifts in physiological adaptations that are observed in marine invertebrates (eg in metabolic rate and egg size) are currently interpreted to result predominantly from decreases in temperature. However, analysis of invertebrate egg size data presented here indicates an increase in egg volume with depth in the absence of a thermal gradient. This suggests hydrostatic pressure may also be important in determining resource allocation to offspring. In order to test the hypothesis that an increase in energy expenditure during development occurs with increasing depth, we examined the effect of sustained exposure to pressure (1, 100, 200 and 300 atm) on development of a shallow-water marine gastropod, Buccinum undatum. Embryos developed successfully at 1, 100 and 200 atm, but the rate of development slowed with increasing pressure (by 3 days at 100 atm and 6 days at 200 atm). No development was observed at 300 atm. In embryos reared at 200 atm, veliger dry weight and carbon and nitrogen biomass were significantly reduced. These results indicate that high pressure significantly increases the metabolic cost associated with development, demonstrating a negative and ultimately critical effect. We hypothesise that pressure imposes increased metabolic cost on all physiological processes. This offers an additional explanation for physiological adaptations observed with increasing depth, indicating that hydrostatic pressure is an important and previously underestimated factor contributing to metabolic theory for approximately 99% of our biosphere. This may represent a critical physiological bottleneck for the maximum depth distribution of shallow-water fauna.

Antarctic associations: the parasitic relationship between the gastropod Bathycrinicola tumidula (Thiele, 1912) (Ptenoglossa: Eulimidae) and the comatulid Notocrinus virilis Mortensen, 1917 (Crinoidea: Notocrinidae) in the Ross Sea

The first case of parasitic association between an eulimid mollusc (Gastropoda, Ptenoglossa) and a comatulid (Echinodermata: Crinoidea) is reported for Antarctica. The mollusc involved in the association is Eulima tumidula Thiele, 1912, which has now been ascribed to the genus Bathycrinicola Bouchet & Waren, 1986, never recognized before in Antarctica. This genus is present only in the NE Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, and encompass species which are specific parasites of the sessile stalked crinoids of the family Bathycrinidae. However, in Antarctica, Bathycrinicola tumidula (Thiele, 1912) exploits the endemic vagile comatulid Notocrinus virilis Mortensen, 1917, and attains the largest known dimensions (∼1 cm) for a Bathycrinicola species. The absence of suitable Bathycrinidae host in modern Antarctic benthic assemblages, as well as the long paleontological history of the genus Notocrinus in Antarctica, suggest a possible ‘host-switch’ phenomenon. This event could reasonably have occurred when many species underwent considerable bathymetric shifts, during the dramatic climatic changes that affected Antarctica.

Systematics, phylogeny and historical biogeography of the Pentagonaster clade (Asteroidea:Valvatida:Goniasteridae)

Morphology-based phylogenetic hypotheses developed for living and fossil goniasterid asteroids have provided several unique opportunities to study bathymetric and biogeographic shifts for an ecologically important group of prominent, megafaunal invertebrates. A cladistic analysis of 18 ingroup taxa employing 65 morphological characters resulted in a single most parsimonious tree. The tree supports assignment of the Atlantic Tosia parva (Perrier, 1881) and the Pacific Tosia queenslandensis Livingstone, 1932 to new, separate genera. The phylogenetic tree supports offshore to onshore bathymetric shifts between basal and derived taxa. The phylogeny is also consistent with historical events surrounding the separation of Antarctica from Australia and South Africa. Buterminaster Blake &amp; Zinsmeister, 1988 from the Eocene La Meseta Formation, Antarctic Peninsula, was included in the phylogenetic analysis and is now supported as the only fossil species in the genus Pentagonaster Gray, 1840. Pentagonaster stibarus H. L. Clark, 1914 is separated from synonymy with P. dubeni Gray, 1847 and resurrected as a valid species. The new genus, Akelbaster, gen. nov., shows unusual new structures that resemble cribiform organs, although their function has not been determined. One specific ingroup lineage, including Tosia and Pentagonaster, attains a much larger adult size than those of its sister-taxa, suggesting that Cope’s rule may apply to asteroids within this clade. Pentagonaster and related genera are revised. Descriptions of four new genera and three new species are presented, including: Akelbaster novaecaledoniae, gen. nov., sp. nov., Ryukuaster onnae, gen. nov., sp. nov., Eknomiaster beccae, sp. nov., Pawsonaster parvus, gen. nov., comb. nov. and Anchitosia queenslandensis, gen. nov., comb. nov.

Bathymetric shift in the distribution of Atlantic surfclams: response to warmer ocean temperature

Abstract Standard research vessel surveys during the 1980s and early 1990s demonstrated that Atlantic surfclams (Spisula solidissima solidissima) were common in the southern portion of their range (37–38°N) along the east coast of North America in the Delmarva region. Based on data from these surveys, the probability of capturing surfclams in shallow water (i.e. 20 m) tows of the Delmarva region was 75–85% in 1994 and 1997. In 1999 and 2002, this probability declined to 40–55%. The probability of capturing surfclams in survey tows from deeper waters (40–50 m) also declined, but this change was relatively small compared with that in shallower water. These changes were not the result of commercial clam fishing. Unusually warm water, which induces thermal stress in S. s. solidissima, was prevalent within the period from 1999 to 2002 over the Delmarva continental shelf during fall when annual bottom temperature was peaking. The combined effects of poor physiological condition and thermal stress likely resulted in mortality of Atlantic surfclams in shallow water habitats in the Delmarva region. This resulted in a shift in the bathymetric distribution of the population to deeper water. Between 1982 and 1997, most of the surfclams in the Delmarva region occurred at depths between 25 and 35 m, whereas in 1999 and 2002, most of the Delmarva population occurred at 35–40 m.

Evolution and diversity of the benthic fauna of the Southern Ocean continental shelf

The modern benthic fauna of the Antarctic continental shelf is characterized by the lack of active, skeleton-breaking (durophagous) predators such as crabs, lobsters and many fish, and the dominance in many areas of epifaunal suspension feeders. It has often been remarked that these ecological characteristics give the fauna a distinctly Palaeozoic feel, with the assumption that it may be an evolutionary relic. We now know that this is not so, and fossil evidence shows clearly that many of the taxa and life-styles that are absent now were previously present. The modern fauna has been shaped by a number of factors, important among which have been oceanographic changes and the onset of Cenozoic glaciation. Sea-water cooling, and periodic fragmentation of ranges and bathymetric shifts in distribution driven by variability in the size and extent of the continental ice cap on Milankovitch frequencies will all have caused both extinction and allopatric speciation. The modern glacial setting with relatively low terrestrial impact away from immediate coastal regions, and scouring by icebergs are the key factors influencing the ecology and population dynamics for the modern Antarctic benthos.

Decline in Mesozoic reef-building sponges explained by silicon limitation

Several unrelated clades of siliceous sponges proliferated on the shelves of the Jurassic Tethys Sea, becoming prominent builders in reefs and near-shore mounds1,2,3,4. Many of these builders are characterized by massive, rock-like skeletons made of spicules with a characteristic terminal hypersilicification4,5. Such hypertrophied spicules are generically known as desmas, irrespective of their phylogenetic origin5. Desma-bearing sponges virtually disappeared from reefs and other neritic environments during the Cretaceous and the Early Tertiary1,2,4,6, but have subsisted in relict populations in deeper, bathyal waters5,7,8. The causes of the decline and bathymetric shift of these sponges remain obscure. Here we show experimentally that the concentration of silicic acid in seawater modulates the phenotypic expression of the various spicule types genetically available in a sponge species. We also show that the concentration of this nutrient in Recent surface waters is insufficient for this species to secrete its desmas. These findings indicate that silicon limitation, probably aggravated in shallow waters by the diatom burst around the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary9,10, may have forced neritic sponges with desmas to either lighten their skeletons or move to deeper, silicon-rich environments.

First and Last Occurrences of Quaternary Benthic Foraminifera in the Gulf of Mexico: Relation to Paleoceanography: ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT The distribution record of benthic foraminifera in late Pleistocene and Recent sediments of the northwestern Gulf of Mexico indicates that occurrences of species are affected by paleoceanography. Two species that are very common in the modern gulf, Bulimina alazanensis and Osangularia culter, were not present in the area during the last glacial stage, due to the absence of Subantarctic Intermediate Water. They reappeared at about 12.5 ka, with the reintroduction of this water mass into the gulf. At the same time, Valvulineria sp. A, common during the last glacial stage, disappeared. This was caused by the cessation of production of the Glacial North Atlantic Intermediate Water during deglaciation. These events, probably isochronous throughout the gulf, do not represent the true first and last occurrences of the species, but may prove useful for the recognition of significant datums. Overall water depth changes or bathymetric shifts of water mass boundaries may lead to the disappearance of certain species in one area, but not in others. This results in a diachronous datum, or stratigraphic climbing. Even planktonic foraminifera can be affected by such processes, because of narrowly stenothermal and stenohaline adaptations of many species, in the context of shoreline shifts and climatic changes.