First visual occurrence data for deep-sea cnidarians in the South-western Colombian Caribbean

Abstract

Attention to the deep-sea environment has increased dramatically in the last decade due to the rising interest in natural resource exploitation. Although Colombia holds a large submerged territory, knowledge of the seabed and its biodiversity beyond 1,000 m depth is very limited. During 2015–2017, Anadarko Colombia Company (ACC) carried out hydrocarbon exploratory activities in the South-western Colombian Caribbean, at depths between 375 m and 2,565 m. Capitalising on available data resources from these activities, several cnidarian species were observed in ROV and towed camera surveys. We analysed over nine hours of video and 5,066 still images from these surveys, identifying organisms to the lowest possible taxonomic level. The images and associated data presented here correspond to 108 observations of deep-sea cnidarians, including seven new records for the Colombian Caribbean. Given the paucity of research and funding to explore the deep-sea in Colombia, the present dataset comprises the largest deep-sea Cnidaria imagery inventory to date for the Colombian Caribbean.

Role of deep-sea equipment in promoting the forefront of studies on life in extreme environments

“…ROV-based biological and ecological surveys are typically recorded using video and image acquisition. To investigate the biodiversity in deep sea, ROV combined with a towing camera can continue to record more than 9 h of video and obtain more than 5,000 images ( Duenas et al., 2019 ). However, navigating and maneuvering a ROV is not an easy task.…”

Deep-sea holothurians (Echinodermata, Holothuroidea) from the Colombian Southern Caribbean Sea

“…Images obtained by ROV and towed camera surveys provide new and valuable information about benthic and bathypelagic megafauna from great depths, which are unexplored not only in the Colombian Caribbean Sea but also in other regions. In recent years, several publications on the deep-sea megafauna from the Colombian Southern Caribbean have provided new records for fishes and invertebrates, including cnidarians and mollusks, among others (Digby et al 2016;Acero et al 2018;Guerrero-Kommritz et al 2018a, 2018bCedeño-Posso et al 2019;Dueñas et al 2019). Particularly for echinoderms, studies such as in the Gulf of Mexico and around the world have provided in situ images of several species, and these images are the basis for new records of species as well as ecological information (Pawson 1982;Miller and Pawson 1990; Bluhm and Gebruk 1999;Gebruk 2008;Rogacheva et al 2013;Pawson et al 2015;Stratman et al 2018;Victorero et al 2018).…”

Role-Playing to Foster ‘Deep-Sea Exploration’ Through Active and Virtual Learning: A Class-Design for Colombian Higher Education

“…Colombia is perhaps the country with the highest marine biological diversity in South America. Nonetheless, marine science in Colombia has developed slowly for 35 years, with the first paper published by Colombian scientists in an international journal in the late 1960s (Díaz & Acero, 2003) and with an even newer research of the deep-seafloor, mostly based on opportunistic information from the oil and gas industry (Acero P, Polo-Silva, León, & Puentes, 2018;Dueñas et al, 2019;Guerrero-Kommritz, Cantera, Puentes, & Leon, 2018). Consequently, the contribution and importance of Colombian deep-sea resources to the national economy and the development of its coastal zones falls short, resulting in a low level of maritime culture among the population and failing at granting scientific information about oceanographic and biological opportunities in the deep sea that would meet societal needs in Colombian communities.…”

“…However, a vast majority of the ecosystems in bathyal, abyssal, and hadal zones are still unexplored, while the pressure to license areas of the deep ocean are only intensifying (Borrero-Pérez, Dueñas, León, & Puentes, 2020). On the other hand, several explorations and new data on Latin American countries' deep-sea territories have come out from oil and gas companies (Borrero-Pérez et al, 2020;Dueñas et al, 2019;Grijalba-Bendeck et al, 2019). These companies also fund programs and consortiums at universities to conduct basic research, which could apply to the industry in the future.…”