Bermuda’s Walsingham Caves: A Global Hotspot for Anchialine Stygobionts

• Published in: Diversity
• Main Authors: Thomas M. Iliffe, Fernando Calderón-Gutiérrez
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021
• Subjects: biodiversity; fauna; conservation; seamount; ecology; Biology (General); QH301-705.5; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/d13080352; https://doaj.org/article/b6b44f5ae29d4dc9b51c4dffac1ea5af

Bermuda is an Eocene age volcanic island in the western North Atlantic, entirely capped by Pleistocene eolian limestone. The oldest and most highly karstified limestone is a 2 km 2 outcrop of the Walsingham Formation containing most of the island’s 150+ caves. Extensive networks of submerged cave passageways, flooded by saltwater, extend under the island. In the early 1980s, cave divers initially discovered an exceptionally rich and diverse anchialine community inhabiting deeper sections of the caves. The fauna inhabiting caves in the Walsingham Tract consists of 78 described species of cave-dwelling invertebrates, including 63 stygobionts and 15 stygophiles. Thus, it represents one of the world’s top hotspots of subterranean biodiversity. Of the anchialine fauna, 65 of the 78 species are endemic to Bermuda, while 66 of the 78 are crustaceans. The majority of the cave species are limited in their distribution to just one or only a few adjacent caves. Due to Bermuda’s high population density, water pollution, construction, limestone quarries, and trash dumping produce severe pressures on cave fauna and groundwater health. Consequently, the IUCN Red List includes 25 of Bermuda’s stygobiont species as critically endangered.