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The Deep-Sea Meiofauna of the Porcupine Seabight and Abyssal Plain

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The Deep-Sea Meiofauna of the Porcupine Seabight and Abyssal Plain OCEANOLOGICA ACTA 1985 -VOL. 8- W 3 ~ -----·~- Deep-sea meiobenthos Continental margins The deep-sea meiofauna Standing stocks Factors for distribution Chloroplastic pigments of the Porcupine Seabight in sediments Méiobenthos des régions and abyssal plain (NE Atlantic): profondes Pentes continentales Densité animale population structure, Facteurs de distribution Pigments chloroplastiques distribution, standing stocks des sédiments O. PFANNKUCHE Institute of Oceanographie Sciences, Worrnley, UK. Present address: Institut für Hydrobiologie und Fischereiwissenschaft, Universitat Hamburg, Zeiseweg 9, 2000 Hamburg 50, FRG. Received 13/11/84, in revised form 8/3/85, accepted 14/3/85. ABSTRACT The metazoan meiofauna has been studied in multiple corer samples collected in the Porcupine Seabight and on the Porcupine Abyssal Plain (NE Atlantic, 49.3°-52.3°N). Cores were taken at 500 rn intervals between depths of 500 rn and 4 850 m. With increasing depth the total meiofaunal abundance declined from 2 604 to 315 individuals per 10 cm- 2 and the biomass from 1.16 to 0.35 mg per 10 cm- 2 (ash-free dry weight). This depth-related decrease in standing stock was significantly correlated with the amounts of sediment-bound chloroplastic pigments (chlorophyll a, pheopigments) in a parallel set of samples. These pigments provide a measure to estimate the flux of primary organic matter to the seafloor. The depth transect in the Porcupine Seabight is compared with similar transects off Portugal and north Morocco. AU three transects revealed major decreases in meiofaunal density and biomass between 500 rn and 1 500 rn, roughly equivalent to the archibenthic zone, and also between the continental rise and the abyssal plain. Between 2 000 rn and 4 000 rn, however, the standing stock decreased only slightly. The metazoan meiofauna in the Porcupine Seabight samples consisted mainly of nematodes (80.0-91.5%) with harpacticoids and nauplii generally second in abundance (3.3-6.8%). Between 500 rn and 2 000 rn, polychaetes and bivalves contributed substantially to the meiofauna. Oceanol. Acta, 1985, 8, 3, 343-353. RÉSUMÉ Méiofaune des régions profondes de la cuvette du Porcupine et de la plaine abyssale (Atlantique NE) : population, répartition, densité. Une étude quantitative des métazoaires méiofauniques de la plaine abyssale et de la cuvette (Seabight) du Porcupine (NE Atlantique : 49.3-52.3°N) a été réalisée à l'aide d'un carottier multiple. Les prélèvements ont été effectués dans la tranche bathymétri­ que 500-4 850 rn, à des intervalles de profondeur de 500 m. L'abondance de la méiofaune décroît selon la profondeur croissante tant en termes de densité (2 604 à 2 2 315 individus.lO cm- ) que de biomasse (1,16 à 0,75 mg.10 cm- ; poids sec de cendres). Cet appauvrissement a été corrélé de façon significative à la teneur des sédiments en pigments chloroplastiques (chlorophylle a, phéopigments) évaluée à partir d'un échantillonnage contigu à celui de la méiofaune. Il est considéré que la mesure de ces pigments fournit une estimation du flux de matière organique primaire vers le fond. Les résultats ont été comparés à ceux obtenus sur des radiales similaires effectuées au large du Portugal ainsi qu'au nord du Maroc. Dans les trois cas, on observe une réduction majeure des densités et biomasses méiobenthiques entre 500 et 1500 rn soit, approximativement, dans la zone archibenthique, ainsi qu'entre la pente du talus continental et la plaine abyssale proprement dite. Entre 2000 et 4000 rn, la raréfaction des peuplements est beaucoup moins accusée. Les métazoaires méiofauniques de la zone étudiée sont essentiellement des nématodes (80-91,5%), l'ensemble copépodes­ nauplii venant généralement au deuxième rang des dominances. Entre 500 et 2 000 rn, les polychètes et les bivalves représentent un contingent faunistique substantiel du méiobenthos. Oceanol. Acta, 1985, 8, 3, 343-353. 0399-1784/85/03 343 11 /S 3.1 0/@ Gauthier-Villars 343 O. PFANNKUCHE INTRODUCTION valves to seal the coring tubes, while the bottom valves close the tubes immediately after these pull free from Wigley and Mclntyre (1964) were the first to study the sediment. samples obtained specifically for meiofauna from From a single batch of 10-12 cores, the number varied beyond the continental shelf (maximum sampling depth depending on the sampling success of the gear, 4 cores 567 rn). The deep-sea meiofauna bas subsequently been tubes were selected randomly for the subsampling of investigated worldwide by a number of authors (Thiel, meiofauna. A sketch of the arrangement of the tubes 1983 and references cited therein), although compared in the sampler is given in Barnett et al. (1984, Fig. 5). with macrofaunal surveys, these studies are still very One meiofauna subsample was taken out of each of limited. Moreover, their wide geographie distribution the 4 corer tubes by inserting smaller tubes, medical means that the comparison of data from different stu­ syringes with eut off anterior ends of 3.4 cm2 cross dies is of dubious value. Such comparisons are further sectional area, to a depth of 5 cm. The subsamples complicated by disagreements about the size limits of were split into five one cm-thick layers, each of which the meiofauna and by different evaluation methods. was preserved separately in 4% buffered formalin. Follo­ Thiel ( 1983), in his comprehensive review of deep-sea wing Dinet et al. (1973) and Thiel (1972; 1983), the meiofaunal research, summarized these problems and meiofauna is defined herein as a size group of animais proposed a size classification based on the mesh sizes passing through a 1 000 J.liD sieve and being retained of the sieves used to process the meiofauna. The size on a 42 J.lm sieve. limits have been used by several authors in the last In the laboratory the samples were washed with tap decade and seem likely to become generally accepted. water through a set of sieves of 500, 150, 100, 65 and Recent years have seen increasing interest in the stan­ 42 J.lm mesh size, stained with Rose Bengal and sorted ding stocks and productivity of ali size classes of ben­ under a low power binocular microscope. Besides nume­ thic animais along continental margins. Rowe (1983) rical abundance, meiofaunal dry weight (DW) and ash­ presented a map summarizing ali the study sites. Depth free dry weight (AFDW) were determined for each transects in various oceanic regions show overall subcore. For the weight determinations the meiofaunal decreases in the standing stocks of the mega-(Rowe, animais were rinsed out of their storage tubes into Haedrich, 1979), macro-(Rowe, 1971; Rowe et al., funnels fitted with pre-incinerated and pre-weighed 1974) and meiofauna (Thiel, 1979) which correlate sta­ glassfibre filters (Whatman GF/C). The specimens were tistically with primary surface production and bathyme­ sucked under vacuum on to the filters and then washed trie depth. Thiel (1979) demonstrated differences in the twice with distilled water. Filters and specimens were slope of the regression between abundance and depth dried at 60°C (24 h) for DW determination and then for macro- and meiofauna. The latter was found to incinerated at 500°C (6 h) for AFDW. The samples be numerically dominant in deeper water and to exhibit were weighed on a "Mettler" ultrabalance of 1 J.lg a slower decrease with increasing depth than the macro­ accuracy. Within each weighing series, three filters Cauna (Thiel, 1979). However, this comparison was without animais went through the same procedure as based on data derived from a wide geographical area a controL These filters were found to undergo sorne and probably reflects only the general trends. weight loss which was considered in the weight calcula­ This paper, the first of a series dealing with the tians. meiofauna of the Porcupine Seabight and Abyssal To estimate the amount of primary organic matter Plain, is concerned with gross taxonomie composition, bound to the sediment, chloroplastic pigment concentra­ distribution and standing stocks along a depth transect tion (chlorophyll a, pheopigments) was measured in the extending from 500 to 4 850 m. The data are compared upper 5 cm of the sediment. This was done by taking on a medium geographie scale with similar transects three smaller subcores ( 1 cm2 surface area) from off Portugal (Thiel, 1975) and off north Morocco alongside the meiofaunal subcores. These samples were (Pfannkuche et al., 1983). Further papers in this series split into three layers (0-1 cm, 1-3 cm, 3-5 cm) and will deal with small scale distribution patterns and kept deep frozen. A spectrophotometric method descri­ seasonal variability. bed by Lorenzen (1967) and Shuman and Lorenzen (1975) was used to measure pigment concentration. The technique measures chlorophyll a and its disintegration MA TERIAL AND METHODS products pheophorbide and pheophytin (pheo­ pigments). However, because the method does not Bottom samples were taken with a multiple corer sys­ discriminate between individual disintegration stages tem which simultaneously obtains sets of undisturbed and because the chemistry of these pigments in sedi­ sediment cores (Barnett et al., 1984): The gear consists ments is not completely understood (cf Thiel, 1982), 1 of a coring assembly and a conical supporting frame­ have treated them as an entity called the chloroplastic work sorne 3 rn high and 2.5 rn wide at the base. The pigment equivalents (CPE). This is expressed in J.lg coring assembly, mounted directly beneath a hydraulic cm- 2 and is an overall value for the 0-5 cm sediment damper, carries up to 12 plastic core tubes of 5.6 cm layer. diameter (,.., 25 cm 2 surface area) with valves at the top and bottom. The corer reaches the seabed with the valves locked open, and a piston inside the damper AREA OF INVESTIGATION allows the coring assembly to penetrate the sediment The data presented are based on samples collected gently with a minimum of disturbance.
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