High abundance of the epibenthic trachymedusa Ptychogastria polaris Allman, 1878 (Hydrozoa, Trachylina) in subpolar fjords along the West Antarctic Peninsula
Medusae can be conspicuous and abundant members of seafloor communities in deep-sea benthic boundary layers. The epibenthic trachymedusa, Ptychogastria polaris Allman, 1878 (Hydrozoa: Trachylina: Ptychogastriidae) occurs in the cold, high latitude systems of both the northern and southern hemisphere...
Published in: | PLOS ONE |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2017
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/404553/ https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/404553/1/journal.pone.0168648.pdf |
id |
ftsouthampton:oai:eprints.soton.ac.uk:404553 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftsouthampton:oai:eprints.soton.ac.uk:404553 2023-07-30T03:59:23+02:00 High abundance of the epibenthic trachymedusa Ptychogastria polaris Allman, 1878 (Hydrozoa, Trachylina) in subpolar fjords along the West Antarctic Peninsula Grange, Laura L. Smith, Craig R. Lindsay, Dhugal J. Bentlage, Bastian Youngbluth, Marsh J. 2017-01-04 text https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/404553/ https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/404553/1/journal.pone.0168648.pdf en English eng https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/404553/1/journal.pone.0168648.pdf Grange, Laura L., Smith, Craig R., Lindsay, Dhugal J., Bentlage, Bastian and Youngbluth, Marsh J. (2017) High abundance of the epibenthic trachymedusa Ptychogastria polaris Allman, 1878 (Hydrozoa, Trachylina) in subpolar fjords along the West Antarctic Peninsula. PLoS ONE, 12 (1), e0168648. (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0168648 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0168648>). cc_by_4 Article PeerReviewed 2017 ftsouthampton https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0168648 2023-07-09T22:12:47Z Medusae can be conspicuous and abundant members of seafloor communities in deep-sea benthic boundary layers. The epibenthic trachymedusa, Ptychogastria polaris Allman, 1878 (Hydrozoa: Trachylina: Ptychogastriidae) occurs in the cold, high latitude systems of both the northern and southern hemispheres, with a circumpolar distribution in Arctic and sub-Arctic areas, and disjunct reports of a few individuals from Antarctica. In January-February 2010, during benthic megafaunal photosurveys in three subpolar fjords along the West Antarctic Peninsula (Andvord, Flandres and Barilari Bays), P. polaris was recorded in Antarctic Peninsula waters. The trachymedusa, identified from megacore-collected specimens, was a common component of the epifauna in the sediment floored basins at 436–725 m depths in Andvord and Flandres Bays, reaching densities up to 13 m-2, with mean densities in individual basins ranging from 0.06 to 4.19 m-2. These densities are 2 to 400-fold higher than previously reported for P. polaris in either the Arctic or Antarctic. This trachymedusa had an aggregated distribution, occurring frequently in Andvord Bay, but was often solitary in Flandres Bay, with a distribution not significantly different from random. Epibenthic individuals were similar in size, typically measuring 15–25 mm in bell diameter. A morphologically similar trachymedusa, presumably the same species, was also observed in the water column near the bottom in all three fjords. This benthopelagic form attained abundances of up to 7 m-2 of seafloor; however, most P. polaris (~ 80%), were observed on soft sediments. Our findings indicate that fjords provide a prime habitat for the development of dense populations of P. polaris, potentially resulting from high and varied food inputs to the fjord floors. Because P. polaris resides in the water column and at the seafloor, large P. polaris populations may contribute significantly to pelagic-benthic coupling in the WAP fjord ecosystems. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Arctic University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton Andvord ENVELOPE(-62.616,-62.616,-64.833,-64.833) Andvord Bay ENVELOPE(-62.650,-62.650,-64.833,-64.833) Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Arctic Barilari ENVELOPE(-64.700,-64.700,-65.916,-65.916) Flandres ENVELOPE(-63.417,-63.417,-65.033,-65.033) Flandres Bay ENVELOPE(-63.312,-63.312,-65.040,-65.040) PLOS ONE 12 1 e0168648 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton |
op_collection_id |
ftsouthampton |
language |
English |
description |
Medusae can be conspicuous and abundant members of seafloor communities in deep-sea benthic boundary layers. The epibenthic trachymedusa, Ptychogastria polaris Allman, 1878 (Hydrozoa: Trachylina: Ptychogastriidae) occurs in the cold, high latitude systems of both the northern and southern hemispheres, with a circumpolar distribution in Arctic and sub-Arctic areas, and disjunct reports of a few individuals from Antarctica. In January-February 2010, during benthic megafaunal photosurveys in three subpolar fjords along the West Antarctic Peninsula (Andvord, Flandres and Barilari Bays), P. polaris was recorded in Antarctic Peninsula waters. The trachymedusa, identified from megacore-collected specimens, was a common component of the epifauna in the sediment floored basins at 436–725 m depths in Andvord and Flandres Bays, reaching densities up to 13 m-2, with mean densities in individual basins ranging from 0.06 to 4.19 m-2. These densities are 2 to 400-fold higher than previously reported for P. polaris in either the Arctic or Antarctic. This trachymedusa had an aggregated distribution, occurring frequently in Andvord Bay, but was often solitary in Flandres Bay, with a distribution not significantly different from random. Epibenthic individuals were similar in size, typically measuring 15–25 mm in bell diameter. A morphologically similar trachymedusa, presumably the same species, was also observed in the water column near the bottom in all three fjords. This benthopelagic form attained abundances of up to 7 m-2 of seafloor; however, most P. polaris (~ 80%), were observed on soft sediments. Our findings indicate that fjords provide a prime habitat for the development of dense populations of P. polaris, potentially resulting from high and varied food inputs to the fjord floors. Because P. polaris resides in the water column and at the seafloor, large P. polaris populations may contribute significantly to pelagic-benthic coupling in the WAP fjord ecosystems. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Grange, Laura L. Smith, Craig R. Lindsay, Dhugal J. Bentlage, Bastian Youngbluth, Marsh J. |
spellingShingle |
Grange, Laura L. Smith, Craig R. Lindsay, Dhugal J. Bentlage, Bastian Youngbluth, Marsh J. High abundance of the epibenthic trachymedusa Ptychogastria polaris Allman, 1878 (Hydrozoa, Trachylina) in subpolar fjords along the West Antarctic Peninsula |
author_facet |
Grange, Laura L. Smith, Craig R. Lindsay, Dhugal J. Bentlage, Bastian Youngbluth, Marsh J. |
author_sort |
Grange, Laura L. |
title |
High abundance of the epibenthic trachymedusa Ptychogastria polaris Allman, 1878 (Hydrozoa, Trachylina) in subpolar fjords along the West Antarctic Peninsula |
title_short |
High abundance of the epibenthic trachymedusa Ptychogastria polaris Allman, 1878 (Hydrozoa, Trachylina) in subpolar fjords along the West Antarctic Peninsula |
title_full |
High abundance of the epibenthic trachymedusa Ptychogastria polaris Allman, 1878 (Hydrozoa, Trachylina) in subpolar fjords along the West Antarctic Peninsula |
title_fullStr |
High abundance of the epibenthic trachymedusa Ptychogastria polaris Allman, 1878 (Hydrozoa, Trachylina) in subpolar fjords along the West Antarctic Peninsula |
title_full_unstemmed |
High abundance of the epibenthic trachymedusa Ptychogastria polaris Allman, 1878 (Hydrozoa, Trachylina) in subpolar fjords along the West Antarctic Peninsula |
title_sort |
high abundance of the epibenthic trachymedusa ptychogastria polaris allman, 1878 (hydrozoa, trachylina) in subpolar fjords along the west antarctic peninsula |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/404553/ https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/404553/1/journal.pone.0168648.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-62.616,-62.616,-64.833,-64.833) ENVELOPE(-62.650,-62.650,-64.833,-64.833) ENVELOPE(-64.700,-64.700,-65.916,-65.916) ENVELOPE(-63.417,-63.417,-65.033,-65.033) ENVELOPE(-63.312,-63.312,-65.040,-65.040) |
geographic |
Andvord Andvord Bay Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Arctic Barilari Flandres Flandres Bay |
geographic_facet |
Andvord Andvord Bay Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Arctic Barilari Flandres Flandres Bay |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Arctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Arctic |
op_relation |
https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/404553/1/journal.pone.0168648.pdf Grange, Laura L., Smith, Craig R., Lindsay, Dhugal J., Bentlage, Bastian and Youngbluth, Marsh J. (2017) High abundance of the epibenthic trachymedusa Ptychogastria polaris Allman, 1878 (Hydrozoa, Trachylina) in subpolar fjords along the West Antarctic Peninsula. PLoS ONE, 12 (1), e0168648. (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0168648 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0168648>). |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0168648 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
e0168648 |
_version_ |
1772810176558006272 |