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- Title
Trophic relationships of hydrothermal vent and non-vent communities in the upper sublittoral and upper bathyal zones off Kueishan Island, Taiwan: a combined morphological, gut content analysis and stable isotope approach.
- Authors
Wang, Teng-Wei; Chan, Tin-Yam; Chan, Benny
- Abstract
This study used morphological, gut content analysis and carbon- and nitrogen-stable isotope analysis to investigate the trophic structure of upper sublittoral (15-30 m deep) and upper bathyal (200-300 m deep) hydrothermal vents and the adjacent non-vent upper bathyal environment off Kueishan Island. The sublittoral vents host no chemosynthetic fauna, but green and red algae, epibiotic biofilm on crustacean surfaces, and zooplankton form the base of the trophic system. Suspension-feeding sea anemones and the generalist omnivorous vent crab Xenograpsus testudinatus occupy higher trophic levels. The upper bathyal hydrothermal vent is a chemoautotrophic-based system. The vent mussel Bathymodiolus taiwanensis forms a chemosynthetic component of this trophic system. Bacterial biofilm, surface plankton, and algae form the other dietary fractions of the upper bathyal fauna. The vent hermit crab Paragiopagurus ventilatus and the vent crab X. testudinatus are generalist omnivores. The vent-endemic tonguefish Symphurus multimaculatus occupies the top level of the trophic system. The adjacent non-vent upper bathyal region contains decapod crustaceans, which function as either predators or scavengers. The assemblages of X. testudinatus from sublittoral and upper bathyal vents exhibited distinct stable isotope values, suggesting that they feed on different food sources. The upper bathyal Xenograpsus assemblages displayed large variations in their stable isotope values and exhibited an ontogenetic shift in their δC and δN stable isotope signatures. Some individuals of Xenograpsus exhibited δN values close to those of non-vent species, suggesting that the highly mobile Xenograpsus may transfer energy between the upper bathyal hydrothermal vents and the adjacent non-vent upper bathyal environment.
- Subjects
TAIWAN; HYDROTHERMAL vents; ISOTOPIC analysis; SEA anemones; MORPHOLOGY
- Publication
Marine Biology, 2014, Vol 161, Issue 11, p2447
- ISSN
0025-3162
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s00227-014-2479-6