Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T17:06:24.418Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Association between the squat lobster Gastroptychus formosus and cold-water corals in the North Atlantic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2010

E. Le Guilloux
Affiliation:
Ifremer, Département Etude des Ecosystèmes Profonds, Laboratoire Environnement Profond, Centre de Brest, BP 70, 29280 Plouzané, France
J.M. Hall-Spencer
Affiliation:
Marine Institute, Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre, University of Plymouth, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK
M.K. Söffker
Affiliation:
Ecotoxicology and Aquatic Biology Research Group, University of Exeter, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter EX4 4PS, Devon, UK
K. Olu*
Affiliation:
Ifremer, Département Etude des Ecosystèmes Profonds, Laboratoire Environnement Profond, Centre de Brest, BP 70, 29280 Plouzané, France
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: K. Olu, Ifremer, Département Etude des Ecosystèmes Profonds, Laboratoire Environnement Profond, Centre de Brest, BP 70, 29280 Plouzané, France email: kavine.olu@ifremer.fr

Abstract

Although there are no previous descriptions of the habits of chirostylids in the North Atlantic, it is likely that species in the genera Uroptychus, Eumunida and Gastroptychus have close ecological ties with deep-sea corals since they have all been recorded in trawl samples containing corals from >200 m depth. We analysed in situ distribution of Gastroptychus formosus and potential hosts using a ROV at a range of north-eastern Atlantic sites and found that this species forms a close association with deep-sea corals that resembles the chirostylid–anthozoan associations reported in shallow Indo-Pacific waters. We update the known distribution for G. formosus, confirming that it is an amphiatlantic species that occurs along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at least as far south as the Azores and along continental margins from the Canary Islands to Scotland at depths of 600–1700 m. The adults have very specific habitat preferences, being only found on gorgonian and antipatharian corals with a strong preference for Leiopathes sp. as a host. This highly restricted habitat preference is likely to render chirostylids vulnerable to the impacts of demersal fishing both directly, as by-catch, and indirectly through habitat loss.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Baba, K. (2005) Deep-sea chirostylid and galatheid crustaceans (Decapoda: Anomura) from the Indo-Pacific, with a list of species. Galathea report: Scientific Results of the Danish Deep-Sea Expedition Round the World 1950–52 20, 5317.Google Scholar
Baba, K., Macpherson, E., Poore, G.C.B., Ahyong, S.T., Bermudez, A., Cabesas, P., Lin, C.W., Nizinski, N., Rodriguez, C. and Schnabel, K.E. (2008) Catalogue of squat lobsters of the world (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura—families Chirostylidae, Galatheidae and Kiwaidae). Zootaxa 1905, 1220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bouvier, E.L. (1922) Observations complémentaires sur les Crustacés décapodes (Abstraction faite les Carides) provenant des Campagnes de S.A.S. le Prince de Monaco. Résultats des Campagnes Scientifiques Accomplies sur son Yacht par Albert 1er Prince Souverain de Monaco 62, 1106.Google Scholar
Buhl-Mortensen, L. and Mortensen, P.B. (2004) Crustaceans associated with the deep-water gorgonian corals Paragorgia arborea (L., 1758) and Primnoa resedaeformis (Gunn., 1763). Journal of Natural History 38, 12331247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Castro, P., Williams, A.B. and Cooper, L.L. (2003) Revision of the family Latreilliidae Stimpson, 1858 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura). Zoosystema 25, 601634.Google Scholar
Caullery, M. (1896) Crustacés Schizopodes et Décapodes. In Koehler, R. (ed.) Résultats scientifiques de la campagne du ‘Caudan' dans le Golfe de Gascogne, Aout–Septembre, 1895. Annales de l'Université de Lyon 26, 365419.Google Scholar
Costello, M.J., McCrea, M., Freiwald, A., Lundälv, T., Jonsson, L., Bett, B.J., Van Weering, T.C.E., de Haas, H., Roberts, J.M. and Allen, D. (2005) Role of cold water Lophelia pertusa coral reefs as fish habitat in the NE Atlantic. In Freiwald, A. and Roberts, J.M. (eds) Cold water corals and ecosystems. Berlin: Springer, pp. 771805.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, A.J., Roberts, J.M. and Hall-Spencer, J. (2007) Preserving deep-sea natural heritage: Emerging issues in offshore conservation and management. Biological Conservation 138, 299312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Saint Laurent, M. and Macpherson, E. (1990) Les espèces atlantiques du Genre Eumunida Smith (Crustacea, Decapoda, Chirostylidae). Journal of Natural History 24, 647666.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
France, S.C., Watling, L.E., Auster, P.J., Badd, I.G., Moore, J.A., Mullineaux, L.S., Adkins, J.F., Shank, T.M. and Waller, R.G. (2006) Observations of deep-water coral communities on the New England and Corner Rise seamount Chains (Western North Atlantic). In 11th International Deep-Sea Biology Symposium, Southampton.Google Scholar
Goh, N.K.C., Ng, P.K.L. and Chou, L.M. (1999) Notes on the shallow water gorgonian-associated fauna on coral reefs in Singapore. Bulletin of Marine Science 65, 259282.Google Scholar
Grange, K.R. (1991) Mutualism between the antipatharian Antipathes fiordensis and the ophiuroid Astrobrachion constrictum in New Zealand fjords. Hydrobiologia 216/217, 297303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall-Spencer, J., Allain, V. and Fossa, J.H. (2002) Trawling damage to Northeast Atlantic ancient coral reefs. Proceedings of the Royal Society, London 269, 507511.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hayward, P.J. and Ryland, J.S. (eds) (1990) The marine fauna of the British Isles and North West Europe: 1 Introduction and protozoans to arthropods. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Hosmer, D. and Lemeshow, S. (2000) Applied logistic regression (2nd edition). New York: Wiley.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huvenne, V., Beyer, A., De Hass, H., Dekindt, K., Henriet, J.P., Kozachenko, M., Olu-Le Roy, K. and Wheeler, A.J. (2005) The seabed appearance of different coral bank provinces in the Porcupine Seabight, NE Atlantic: results from sidescan sonar and ROV seabed mapping. In Freiwald, A. and Roberts, J.M. (eds) Cold-water corals and ecosystems. Berlin: Springer, pp. 535569.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jensen, A. and Frederiksen, R. (1992) The fauna associated with the bank-forming deepwater coral Lophelia pertusa (Scleractinaria) on the Faroe shelf. Sarsia 77, 5369.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jonsson, L.G., Nilsson, P.G., Floruta, F. and Lundalv, T. (2004) Distributional patterns of macro- and megafauna associated with Lophelia pertusa on the Swedish west coast. Marine Ecology Progress Series 284, 136171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelmanson, I.V. and Matz, M.V. (2003) Molecular basis and evolutionary origins of color diversity in great star coral Montastraea cavernosa (Scleractinia: Faviida). Molecular Biology and Evolution 20, 11251133.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kemp, S. (1910) The Decapoda collected by the ‘Huxley' from the north side of the Bay of Biscay in August, 1906. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 8, 407420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kilgour, M.J. and Shirley, T.C. (2008) Eumunida picta S.I. Smith, 1883, and Lophelia pertusa (Linnaeus, 1758): a relationship or just good friends? Crustaceana 81, 587593.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klages, M., Thiede, J. and Fouchet, J.P. (2004) The expedition ARKTIS XIX/3 of the research vessel Polarstern in 2003. In Reports on Polar and Marine Research.Google Scholar
Lindberg, B., Berndt, C. and Mienert, J. (2007) The Fugloy Reef at 70 degrees N; acoustic signature, geologic, geomorphologic and oceanographic setting. International Journal of Earth Sciences 96, 201213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melo-Fiho, G.A.S. and Melo, G.A.S. (2004) A new species of genus Gastroptychus Caullery, 1896 (Decapoda: Anomura: Chirostylidae) from the Brazilian coast. Nauplius 12, 4550.Google Scholar
Milne-Edwards, A. and Bouvier, E.-L. (1900) Brachyures et Anomoures. Crustacés Décapodes I. Expéditions Scientifiques du Travailleur et du Talisman 6, 1396.Google Scholar
Mortensen, P.B., Hovland, M., Torvleiv, B. and Robert, F. (1995) Deep water bioherms of the scleractinian coral Lophelia pertsa (L.) at 64° N on the Norwegian shelf: structure and association megafauna. Sarsia 80, 145158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Myers, A.A. and Hall-Spencer, J.M. (2003) A new species of amphipod crustacean, Pleusymtes comitari sp nov, associated with gorgonians on deep-water coral reefs off Ireland. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 84, 10291032.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olu-Le Roy, K., Caprais, J.-C., Crassous, P., Dejonghe, E., Eardley, D., Freiwald, A., Galeron, J., Grehan, A., Henriet, J.-P., Huvenne, V., Lorance, P., Noel, P., Opderbecke, J., Pitout, C., Sibuet, M., Unnithan, V., Vacelet, J., van Weering, T., Wheeler, A. and Zibrowius, H. (2002) CARACOLE cruise report. Volumes 1&2. Internal report, IFREMER, Brest.Google Scholar
Osawa, M. and Nishikiori, K. (1998) A new species of the genus Chirostylus Ortmann, 1892 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura: Chirostylidae) from the Ogasawara Islands, southern Japan. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 111, 382388.Google Scholar
Pohle, G.W. and Macpherson, E. (1995) Gastroptychus formosus (Filhol, 1884) (Decapoda, Anomura, Chirostylidae): taxonomic history and first record from the Western Atlantic. Crustaceana 68, 484488.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rice, A.L. and Miller, J.E. (1991) Chirostylid and Galatheid crustacean associates of Coelenterates and Echinoderms collected from the Johnson-Sea-link submersible, including a new species of Gastroptychus. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 104, 299308.Google Scholar
Roberts, J.M., Wheeler, A.J. and Freiwald, A. (2006) Reefs of the deep: the biology and geology of cold-water coral ecosystems. Science 312, 543547.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roberts, J., Henry, L.A., Long, D. and Hartley, J. (2008) Cold-water coral reef frameworks, megafaunal communities and evidence for coral carbonate mounds on the Hatton Bank, north east Atlantic. Facies 54, 297316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samadi, S., Bottan, L., Macpherson, E., De Forges, B.R. and Boisselier, M.C. (2006) Seamount endemism questioned by the geographic distribution and population genetic structure of marine invertebrates. Marine Biology 149, 14631475.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Selbie, C.M. (1914) Palinura, Astacura and Anomura (except Paguridea). The Decapoda of the coast of Ireland, Part 1. Reports of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland, Scientific Investigations of the Fisheries Branch 1, 1116.Google Scholar
Wasserman, L. (2004) All of statistics: a concise course in statistical inference. New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wienberg, C., Beuck, L., Heidkamp, S., Hebbeln, D., Freiwald, A., Pfannkuche, O. and Monteys, X. (2008) Franken Mound: facies and biocoenoses on a newly-discovered ‘carbonate mound' on the western Rockall Bank, NE Atlantic. Facies 54, 124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wild, C., Huettel, M., Klueter, A., Kremb, S.G., Rasheed, M.Y.M. and Jorgensen, B.B. (2004) Coral mucus functions as an energy carrier and particle trap in the reef ecosystem. Nature 428, 6670.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wirtz, P. and d'Udekem-d'Acoz, C. (2001) Decapod from Anthipatharia, Gorgonaria and Bivalvia at the Cape Verde Islands. Helgoland Marine Research 55, 112115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zariquiey Álvarez, R. (1968) Crustáceos Decápodos Ibéricos. In Investigaciones Pesqueras de Barcelona, Volume 32. Barcelona: Investigacion Pesquera, pp. 261267.Google Scholar