Bait-attending amphipods of the Tonga Trench and depth-stratified population structure in the scavenging amphipod Hirondellea dubia Dahl, 1959.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The hadal zone encompasses the deepest parts of the world's ocean trenches from depths of ∼6,000-11,000 m. The communities observed at these depths are dominated by scavenging amphipods that rapidly intercept and consume carrion as it falls to the deepest parts of the trenches. New samples collected in the Tonga Trench provide an opportunity to compare the amphipod assemblages and the population structure of a dominant species, Hirondellea dubia Dahl, 1959, between trenches and with earlier data presented for the Tonga Trench, and other trenches in the South Pacific.

Methods

Over 3,600 individual scavenging amphipods across 10 species were collected in seven baited traps at two sites; in the Horizon Deep site, the deepest part of the Tonga Trench (10,800 m)

SUBMITTER: Wilson JPA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6287581 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature