Marine Ecology June 2011, Volume 32, Issue 2, pages 243–255 Archimer http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0485.2010.00431.x http://archimer.ifremer.fr © 2011 Blackwell Verlag GmbH The definitive version is available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ Hydrothermal faunal assemblages and habitat characterisation at the ailable on the publisher Web site Eiffel Tower edifice (Lucky Strike, Mid-Atlantic Ridge) Daphne Cuvelier1, *, Pierre-Marie Sarradin2, Jozée Sarrazin2, Ana Colaço1, Jon T. Copley3, Daniel Desbruyères2, Adrian G. Glover4, Ricardo Serrão Santos1, Paul A. Tyler3 1 IMAR & Department of Oceanography and Fisheries, University of the Azores, Horta, Portugal 2 Institut Français de Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la Mer (Ifremer), Centre de Brest, Département Études des Ecosystèmes Profonds, Laboratoire Environnement Profond, Plouzané, France blisher-authenticated version is av 3 School of Ocean & Earth Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK 4 Zoology Department, The Natural History Museum, London, UK *: Corresponding author : Daphne Cuvelier, email address :
[email protected] Abstract : The Eiffel Tower edifice is situated in the Lucky Strike hydrothermal vent field at a mean depth of 1690 m on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR). At this 11-m-high hydrothermal structure, different faunal assemblages, varying in visibly dominant species (mussels and shrimp), in mussel size and in density of mussel coverage, were sampled biologically and chemically. Temperature and sulphide (∑S) were measured on the different types of mussel-based assemblages and on a shrimp-dominated assemblage. Temperature was used as a proxy for calculating total concentrations of CH4. Based on the physico-chemical measurements, two microhabitats were identified, corresponding to (i) a more variable habitat featuring the greatest fluctuations in environmental variables and (ii) a second, more stable, habitat.