Vol. 63, 2024
(update: 2024.9.4)
Population Genetics of the
Deep-sea Acorn Barnacle Bathylasma
hirsutum (Hoek, 1883) and the First Report of its Affiliation
with a Hydrothermal Vent Field
Jenny
Neuhaus1,*, Katrin Linse2, Saskia Brix1,
Pedro Martínez Arbizu3, and James Taylor1,4
doi:-
1German
Centre for Marine Biodiversity Research (DZMB), c/o Biozentrum Grindel,
Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg, Germany. *Correspondence:
E-mail: jenny.neuhaus@senckenberg.de (Neuhaus)
E-mail: saskia.brix-elsig@senckenberg.de (Brix)
2British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environmental
Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK.
E-mail: kl@bas.ac.uk (Linse)
3German Centre for Marine Biodiversity Research
(DZMB), Senckenberg am Meer, Südstrand 44, 26382, Wilhelmshaven,
Germany. E-mail: pedro.martinez@senckenberg.de (Arbizu)
4GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, 24105
Kiel, Germany. E-mail: jtaylor@geomar.de (Taylor)
(Received 1 December 2023 /
Accepted 10 April 2024 / Published 4 September 2024)
Communicated by Benny K.K. Chan
Confined by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
and the European continental shelf, the deep-sea acorn barnacle Bathylasma hirsutum (Hoek, 1883)
lives in the northeast Atlantic deep sea, where it has been frequently
reported in high current areas. Cemented to a solid substrate during
its entire adult life, the species can only disperse by means of
planktotrophic nauplius larvae. This study reports on the occurrence,
ecology and genetic connectivity of B.
hirsutum from four sites within the northeastern Iceland Basin
and presents the first record of the species living affiliated with
hydrothermal vent field on the Reykjanes Ridge axis. Vent-associated
specimens were found to differ extrinsically from their naturally
shaded conspecifics by a prominent brown-black shell precipitate.
Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy revealed ferromanganese oxides to be the
main component of these shell precipitates. Morphometric measurements
of shell plates revealed specimens from the vent-associated habitat to
be smaller compared to non-venting sites. Molecular species
delimitation based on the mitochondrial COI and nuclear EF1 genetic markers
aided species identification and revealed a low intraspecific genetic
variability. Our findings suggest a pronounced genetic connectivity of B. hirsutum within the studied
region and provide a first step towards a biogeographic study. As such,
habitats of hydrothermal influence along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge are
discussed as possible niches, as are deep-sea basins in the western
Atlantic. In light of the reported affiliation with hydrothermal
activity, we elaborate on the potential for the sister species Bathylasma corolliforme (Hoek, 1883) and Bathylasma chilense Araya &
Newman, 2018 to utilise equivalent habitats in the Antarctic and
Pacific Ocean, respectively. Our record of the unacquainted ecological
niche occupation for B. hirsutum
emphasises the need for further research on bathylasmatid acorn
barnacles along the extensive Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where many biological
communities remain to be discovered.
Key words: Bathylasmatidae, Biogeography,
Connectivity, Habitat expansion, Larval distribution
Citation: Neuhaus J, Linse K, Brix S,
Martínez Arbizu P, Taylor J. 2024. Population genetics of the deep-sea
acorn barnacle Bathylasma hirsutum
(Hoek, 1883) and the first report of its affiliation with a
hydrothermal vent field. Zool Stud 63:25.
doi:10.6620/ZS.2024.63-25.
Supplementary
materials: Table S1丨Table S2丨Table S3丨Table S4丨Table S5
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