A crab swarm at an ecological hotspot: patchiness and population density from AUV observations at a coastal, tropical seamount.

ABSTRACT: A research cruise to Hannibal Bank, a seamount and an ecological hotspot in the coastal eastern tropical Pacific Ocean off Panama, explored the zonation, biodiversity, and the ecological processes that contribute to the seamount's elevated biomass. Here we describe the spatial structure of a benthic anomuran red crab population, using submarine video and autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) photographs. High density aggregations and a swarm of red crabs were associated with a dense turbid layer 4-10 m above the bottom. The high density aggregations were constrained to 355-385 m water depth over the Northwest flank of the seamount, although the crabs also occurred at lower densities in shallower waters (∼280 m) and in another location of the seamount. The crab aggregations occurred in hypoxi

SUBMITTER: Pineda J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4841253 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature