Preliminary observations on the benthic marine algae of the Gorringe seabank (northeast Atlantic Ocean)

Abstract

Examination of marine samples collected in 2006 from the Gettysburg and Ormonde seamounts on the Gorringe seabank southwest of Portugal has revealed 29 benthic Chlorophyta, Phaeophyceae (Ochrophyta), and Rhodophyta that were identified provisionally to genus and to species. Combining lists for the present and a previous expedition brings the total of algae thus far recorded to 48. The brown alga Zonaria tournefourtii and the red alga Cryptopleura ramosa were the most abundant species in the present collections. The kelp Laminaria ochroleuca was present only in the Gettysburg samples while Saccorhiza polyschides was observed only on the Ormonde seamount. Comparisons with the benthic marine algae recorded on seamounts in the mid-Atlantic Azores archipelago show features in common, notably kelp forests of L. ochroleuca at depths below 30 m and Z. tournefortii dominance in shallower waters.

The Structure and Distribution of Benthic Communities on a Shallow Seamount (Cobb Seamount, Northeast Pacific Ocean)

“…180 m [11]. Similar depth-related community patterns have been reported for other shallow seamounts (e.g., NE Atlantic [28, 67]; SE Atlantic [56]).…”

Patterns in megabenthic assemblages on a seamount summit (Ormonde Peak, Gorringe Bank, Northeast Atlantic)

“…), and sponges (Xavier & van Soest ), Hydrozoa (Moura ), Algae (Tittley et al . ) in addition to new records of fishes (Abecasis et al . ), respectively.…”

Jujubinus browningleeae n. sp. (Gastropoda Trochidae) from the Atlantic Ocean, a new member of the “smooth” Jujubinus Monterosato, 1884 complex

“…24), a high ranked Ecologically or Biologically Significant Area (EBSA), which recently has been included in the list of Sites of Community Importance of Portugal (Ramos et al, 2015). The habitat of seamounts is often very peculiar due to the hydrological and sedimentary dynamics occurring in these submarine environments (Fernández-Palacios et al, 2011;Tittley et al, 2014). These geographical oceanic spots are considered models for marine speciation, due to their distance from the mainland that remained unchanged after their geological formation (Fernández-Palacios et al, 2011;Tittley et al, 2014).…”

“…The habitat of seamounts is often very peculiar due to the hydrological and sedimentary dynamics occurring in these submarine environments (Fernández-Palacios et al, 2011;Tittley et al, 2014). These geographical oceanic spots are considered models for marine speciation, due to their distance from the mainland that remained unchanged after their geological formation (Fernández-Palacios et al, 2011;Tittley et al, 2014). Larval dispersion capability represents the only process which ensures to benthic communities colonization and a high level of endemism can be generally observed (Gofas, 2018 and references therein).…”

“…The presence of the kelps Saccorizha polyschides (Lightfoot) Batters, Laminaria rodriguezii Bornet and L. ochroleuca Bachelot de la Pylaie in the Strait of Messina (Drew, 1974;Zampino & Di Martino, 2000) where J. curinii occurs, as well as the occurrence of Laminariales in both Skerki and Talbot Banks, where J. eleonorae and J. trilloi are present, support the hypothesis of a trophic association between the Mediterranean "smooth" Jujubinus and kelps. According to Tittley et al (2014), the kelps Laminaria ochroleuca and Saccorhiza polyschides occur in the Gorringe Bank, so a possible link between J. browningleeae n. sp. and one of these two kelps can be hypothesized as a potential trophic association.…”