Trophodynamics of the sclerosponge Ceratoporella nicholsoni along a shallow to mesophotic depth gradient
- PDF / 1,031,804 Bytes
- 11 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 17 Downloads / 181 Views
REPORT
Trophodynamics of the sclerosponge Ceratoporella nicholsoni along a shallow to mesophotic depth gradient Keir J. Macartney1
•
M. Sabrina Pankey1 • Marc Slattery2 • Michael P. Lesser1
Received: 28 February 2020 / Accepted: 29 September 2020 Ó Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The sclerosponge Ceratoporella nicholsoni is a hyper-calcifying high microbial abundance sponge. This sponge has been observed at high densities throughout the Caribbean in the mesophotic zone (30–150 m), as well as cryptic environments in shallow (\ 30 m) depths. Given the densities of this sponge, it could play an important role in the cycling of inorganic and organic sources of carbon and nitrogen at mesophotic depths. Additionally, there is broad interest in this sponge as a tool for paleobiology, paleoclimatology and paleoceanography. As a result, it is increasingly important to understand the ecology of these unique sponges in the underexplored Caribbean mesophotic zone. Here we show that this sponge increases in abundance from shallow depths into the mesophotic zone of Grand Cayman Island. We observed no significant differences in the stable isotope signatures of d15N and d13C of sponge tissue between depths. A predictive model of sponge diet with increasing depth shows that these sponges consume dissolved organic matter of algal and coral origin, as well as the consumption of particulate organic matter consistent with the interpretation of the stable isotope data. The taxonomic composition of the sclerosponge Topic Editor Alastair Harborne
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-020-02008-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. & Keir J. Macartney [email protected] 1
Department of Molecular, Cellular and Biomedical Sciences and School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA
2
Department of BioMolecular Science, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS 38677, USA
microbiome was invariant across the shallow to mesophotic depth range but did contain the Phylum Chloroflexi, known to degrade a variety of dissolved organic carbon sources. These data suggest that the depth distribution of this sponge may not be driven by changes in trophic strategy and is potentially regulated by other biotic or abiotic factors. Keywords Mesophotic Sclerosponge Microbiome Stable isotopes Trophic ecology Sponge
Introduction It is well-known that cryptic spaces in coral reefs are a crucial component of overall coral reef productivity (de Goeij and van Duyl 2007; de Goeij et al. 2013, 2017). These habitats may comprise up to 75–90% of total reef volume in the Caribbean (Ginsburg 1983; de Goeij et al. 2017) and are known to be net sinks of dissolved organic matter (DOM), and in particular dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Cryptic spaces also play a significant role in overall productivity of coral reefs and may improve adjacent coral reef health (Slattery
Data Loading...
