286
Paul A. TYLER
occasional vestimentiferan tubes. Associated invertebrates include the gastropod Bathynerita naticoidea,
the decapods Alvinocaris stactolitha and a species
of Munidopsis, and an orbinid worm Methanoaricia
dendrobranchiata (personal observation).
On other parts of the Louisiana slope additional
chemosynthetically-supported bivalves include Calyptogena ponderosa and Vesicomya cordata, found at
seeps from Garden Banks off Texas to the western part
of the Green Canyon site off Louisiana (Rosman et al.,
1987; Kennicutt et al., 1988).
Underlying many of the sediments of the Louisiana
slope are gas hydrates, or solid methane (Chapter 4;
see also Brooks et al., 1986). Inhabiting this exceptional environment is a hesionid worm Hesiocaeca
methanicola (Desbruy` eres and Toulmond, 1998). The
physiology of this remarkable organism is still being
elucidated (C.R. Fisher, personal communication).
The last seep environment in the Gulf of Mexico
is at the base of the Florida Escarpment (Paull et al.,
1984). This seep is at a depth of approximately 3000 m,
and the associated chemosynthetic community is driven
by sulphide-rich water seeping out of the bedrock. The
fauna consists of patches of vestimentiferan tubeworms
(Escarpia laminata) and mussel beds with associated
limpets, holothurians, ophiuroids and anemones. Cary
et al. (1989) have shown that the chemosynthesis is
driven by two sources of hydrogen sulphide. The first is
geothermal from groundwater leaching, and the second
is microbial sulphide produced in situ. There is also
methane seepage. Escarpia laminata relies on sulphide
oxidation, whilst Bathymodiolus relies on methane
oxidation.
In contrast to the other peripheral seas where the
benthic biomass at the deep-sea bed is determined
by the vertical flux from overlying waters and hence
surface production, the benthic biomass in certain parts
of the Gulf of Mexico is higher than would be predicted
by surface production owing to energy availability for
chemosynthetic production.
Seas of the Indonesian Archipelago
No cruises to the Indonesian archipelago have been
dedicated to examining the deep-sea metazoan fauna.
Ecology of shallow water has been dealt with extensively by Tomascik et al. (1997). Both the Challenger
and Galathea sampled in this region. In the Banda Sea
at Station 195, depth 2850 m, Challenger recovered
26 metazoan species, whilst in the Sulawesi Sea (then
known as the Celebes Sea) 21 species were recovered
at Station 198 in 4300 m of water (Murray, 1895). The
Galathea sampled a single station (Station 450, 4940
to 4970 m) in the Sulawesi Sea, and recovered five
individuals of the rare brotulid fish Typhlonus nasus
(Nielsen, 1966). Since that time additional knowledge
of the deep-water fauna of this region has been scanty.
There is limited information from the few deeper
stations of the Siboga and Snellius cruises and some
information from the Naga cruises. For a list of the
monographs resulting from the Siboga cruise the reader
is referred to Menzies et al. (1973), although only
a few observations were from deep water. Fujita and
Ohta (1988) reported the association of the ophiuroid
Asteronyx loveni with the gorgonian Radicipes sp. from
a depth of ~960 m in the Flores Sea. More recently the
KARUBAR French–Indonesian expedition (Crosnier
et al., 1997) has provided some reports on the deepwater fauna (Norman et al., 1997).
There has been some recent interest in the protozoan
fauna in the deep sea of this region. Miao and Thunell
(1993) zoned the Sulu Sea according to the dominant
Foraminifera. Number and species diversity decreased
with depth, and four faunal assemblages were recognized. At depths of <1400 m, the Uvigerina assemblage
was found. From 1400 m to 2000 m is found the
Pyrgo murrhina assemblage. Below 2200 m are two
assemblages dominated by Oridorsalis umbonatus.
This zonation is driven by the organic-carbon content
and oxygen penetration into the sediments. Rathburn
and Corliss (1994) showed that Foraminifera had even
finer microhabitat preferences than those described by
Miao and Thunell, with different species occupying
different levels within the sediment.
Although not in the deep sea, there has been an
intriguing suggestion recently (Barber et al., 2000) that
there may be the marine equivalent of Wallace’s line
through the shallow water of the Indonesian seas. It
would be of great interest to see if this faunal boundary
extended into deep water.
Sea of Japan
Previous reviews of the fauna of the Sea of Japan
(Zenkevitch, 1963; Nishimura, 1966, 1968, 1969,
1983) have suggested that the deeper parts do not have
a true deep-sea fauna, but rather have a fauna composed
of cold-adapted eurybathic species with affinities to
Arctic forms (Nishimura, 1969). The bottom-living
fauna of the Sea of Japan decreases markedly in
Paul A. TYLER
occasional vestimentiferan tubes. Associated invertebrates include the gastropod Bathynerita naticoidea,
the decapods Alvinocaris stactolitha and a species
of Munidopsis, and an orbinid worm Methanoaricia
dendrobranchiata (personal observation).
On other parts of the Louisiana slope additional
chemosynthetically-supported bivalves include Calyptogena ponderosa and Vesicomya cordata, found at
seeps from Garden Banks off Texas to the western part
of the Green Canyon site off Louisiana (Rosman et al.,
1987; Kennicutt et al., 1988).
Underlying many of the sediments of the Louisiana
slope are gas hydrates, or solid methane (Chapter 4;
see also Brooks et al., 1986). Inhabiting this exceptional environment is a hesionid worm Hesiocaeca
methanicola (Desbruy` eres and Toulmond, 1998). The
physiology of this remarkable organism is still being
elucidated (C.R. Fisher, personal communication).
The last seep environment in the Gulf of Mexico
is at the base of the Florida Escarpment (Paull et al.,
1984). This seep is at a depth of approximately 3000 m,
and the associated chemosynthetic community is driven
by sulphide-rich water seeping out of the bedrock. The
fauna consists of patches of vestimentiferan tubeworms
(Escarpia laminata) and mussel beds with associated
limpets, holothurians, ophiuroids and anemones. Cary
et al. (1989) have shown that the chemosynthesis is
driven by two sources of hydrogen sulphide. The first is
geothermal from groundwater leaching, and the second
is microbial sulphide produced in situ. There is also
methane seepage. Escarpia laminata relies on sulphide
oxidation, whilst Bathymodiolus relies on methane
oxidation.
In contrast to the other peripheral seas where the
benthic biomass at the deep-sea bed is determined
by the vertical flux from overlying waters and hence
surface production, the benthic biomass in certain parts
of the Gulf of Mexico is higher than would be predicted
by surface production owing to energy availability for
chemosynthetic production.
Seas of the Indonesian Archipelago
No cruises to the Indonesian archipelago have been
dedicated to examining the deep-sea metazoan fauna.
Ecology of shallow water has been dealt with extensively by Tomascik et al. (1997). Both the Challenger
and Galathea sampled in this region. In the Banda Sea
at Station 195, depth 2850 m, Challenger recovered
26 metazoan species, whilst in the Sulawesi Sea (then
known as the Celebes Sea) 21 species were recovered
at Station 198 in 4300 m of water (Murray, 1895). The
Galathea sampled a single station (Station 450, 4940
to 4970 m) in the Sulawesi Sea, and recovered five
individuals of the rare brotulid fish Typhlonus nasus
(Nielsen, 1966). Since that time additional knowledge
of the deep-water fauna of this region has been scanty.
There is limited information from the few deeper
stations of the Siboga and Snellius cruises and some
information from the Naga cruises. For a list of the
monographs resulting from the Siboga cruise the reader
is referred to Menzies et al. (1973), although only
a few observations were from deep water. Fujita and
Ohta (1988) reported the association of the ophiuroid
Asteronyx loveni with the gorgonian Radicipes sp. from
a depth of ~960 m in the Flores Sea. More recently the
KARUBAR French–Indonesian expedition (Crosnier
et al., 1997) has provided some reports on the deepwater fauna (Norman et al., 1997).
There has been some recent interest in the protozoan
fauna in the deep sea of this region. Miao and Thunell
(1993) zoned the Sulu Sea according to the dominant
Foraminifera. Number and species diversity decreased
with depth, and four faunal assemblages were recognized. At depths of <1400 m, the Uvigerina assemblage
was found. From 1400 m to 2000 m is found the
Pyrgo murrhina assemblage. Below 2200 m are two
assemblages dominated by Oridorsalis umbonatus.
This zonation is driven by the organic-carbon content
and oxygen penetration into the sediments. Rathburn
and Corliss (1994) showed that Foraminifera had even
finer microhabitat preferences than those described by
Miao and Thunell, with different species occupying
different levels within the sediment.
Although not in the deep sea, there has been an
intriguing suggestion recently (Barber et al., 2000) that
there may be the marine equivalent of Wallace’s line
through the shallow water of the Indonesian seas. It
would be of great interest to see if this faunal boundary
extended into deep water.
Sea of Japan
Previous reviews of the fauna of the Sea of Japan
(Zenkevitch, 1963; Nishimura, 1966, 1968, 1969,
1983) have suggested that the deeper parts do not have
a true deep-sea fauna, but rather have a fauna composed
of cold-adapted eurybathic species with affinities to
Arctic forms (Nishimura, 1969). The bottom-living
fauna of the Sea of Japan decreases markedly in