fmars-08-574780 February 1, 2021 Time: 11:37 # 1 ORIGINAL RESEARCH published: 03 February 2021 doi: 10.3389/fmars.2021.574780 Environmental Drivers of Mesophotic Echinoderm Assemblages of the Southeastern Pacific Ocean Ariadna Mecho1*, Boris Dewitte1,2,3, Javier Sellanes1, Simon van Gennip1,4, Erin E. Easton1,5 and Joao B. Gusmao1 1 Núcleo Milenio de Ecología y Manejo Sustentable de Islas Oceánicas (ESMOI), Departamento de Biología Marina, Universidad Católica del Norte, Coquimbo, Chile, 2 Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA), Coquimbo, Chile, 3 Laboratoire d’Etudes en Géophysique et Océanographie Spatiales (LEGOS), Toulouse, France, 4 Mercator-Ocean International (MOI), Ramonville Saint-Agne, France, 5 School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, United States Edited by: Eva Ramirez-Llodra, Mesophotic ecosystems (50–400 m depth) of the southeastern Pacific have rarely REV Ocean, Norway been studied because of the logistical challenges in sampling across this remote zone. Reviewed by: This study assessed how oxygen concentrations and other environmental predictors Akkur Vasudevan Raman, Andhra University, India explain variation in echinoderm assemblages at these mesophotic systems, where this Helena Passeri Lavrado, group is among the predominant fauna. We compiled data on echinoderm taxa at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, 91 sampling stations, from historical and recent surveys (between 1950 and 2019), Brazil covering a longitudinal gradient of approximately 3,700 km along with the Nazca, *Correspondence: Ariadna Mecho Salas y Gómez, and Juan Fernández ridges. Uni- and multivariate model-based tools
[email protected]; were applied to analyze the patterns of benthic fauna in relation to environmental
[email protected] factors.