Vent fauna on whale remains

Smith, Craig R.; Kukert, Helmut; Wheatcroft, Robert A.; Jumars, Peter A.; Deming, Jody W.

doi:10.1038/341027a0

Cited by 296 publications

(266 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Thus they should be able to feed on reptilian bones, although direct evidence of Osedax colonizing reptile bones is currently lacking. Furthermore, a Cretaceous origin seems possible because plesiosaur skeletons from late Cretaceous deep-water sediments were found associated with communities of small mollusks (22), showing that these skeletons could support invertebrate communities resembling those colonizing whale skeletons in the deep-sea today (23). Osedax has also been found living on experimentally submerged cow bones (24), indicating its ability to live on a variety of mammalian bones.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Fossil traces of the bone-eating worm Osedax in early Oligocene whale bones

Kiel

Goedert

Kahl

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Osedax is a recently discovered group of siboglinid annelids that consume bones on the seafloor and whose evolutionary origins have been linked with Cretaceous marine reptiles or to the postCretaceous rise of whales. Here we present whale bones from early Oligocene bathyal sediments exposed in Washington State, which show traces similar to those made by Osedax today. The geologic age of these trace fossils (∼30 million years) coincides with the first major radiation of whales, consistent with the hypothesis of an evolutionary link between Osedax and its main food source, although older fossils should certainly be studied. Osedax has been destroying bones for most of the evolutionary history of whales and the possible significance of this "Osedax effect" in relation to the quality and quantity of their fossils is only now recognized.annelids | deep sea | fossil record | symbiosis T he deep sea has the least explored biodiversity (1, 2), and the scarcity of food in the abyss has resulted in a range of evolutionary novelties (3)(4)(5). A recent discovery in this field is the annelid genus Osedax that lives and feeds exclusively on bones on the seafloor (6). Age estimates using molecular clocks suggest either an Eocene to Oligocene origin of Osedax, coincident with the rise of whales (6, 7), or a Cretaceous origin (7), depending on the rate used, but these estimates have not yet been corroborated by fossil evidence. Osedax belongs to the family Siboglinidae that includes the large tube worms living around deep-sea hydrothermal vents and cold seeps (6). Whereas other siboglinids live in symbiosis with chemoautotrophic bacteria, Osedax has symbionts that are heterotrophic γ-proteobacteria consuming mainly collagen and/or lipids (8). The symbionts are housed mainly in tissue that forms a "root system" extending into the bone. The action of the roots and associated bacteria results in the destruction of the bone interior. The roots are connected to the main body of the worm that emerges from the bone via a circular hole on the bone surface (6, 9). Such holes and excavations in fossil bones can arguably be used to infer the presence of Osedax in the geologic past. Here we report Oligocene whale bones that show such traces. ResultsTraces resembling those left by Osedax in whale bones today were found in two early Oligocene whales from bathyal sediments of the Pysht Formation in northwestern Washington State (Fig. 1). The whale fossils were preserved within hard carbonate concretions from rock outcrops on the modern beach terrace. The whales were small, toothed mysticetes with a body length estimated to not exceed 4 m. One specimen (USNM 539939) is the posterodorsal part of a skull that includes a right dentary, a periotic, a bulla, some teeth, and other fragments in addition to six small shark teeth (?Somniosus sp.). Boreholes are on the lateral surface of the dentary and on two rib fragments ( Fig. 1 A and C). Some of the bones preserve marks left by the teeth of scavenging sharks. The ventral portion of the skull was co...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Fossil traces of the bone-eating worm Osedax in early Oligocene whale bones

Kiel

Goedert

Kahl

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Other studies show that fish carcasses in deep sea environments may be located and consumed within hours by highly mobile scavenging assemblages (e.g., Smith et al, 1989;Thurston et al, 1995). These food falls act as a local and highly concentrated organic input in deep-sea areas (Stockton and DeLaca, 1982).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological studies on the decomposition rate of fish carcasses by benthic organisms in the littoral zone of Lake Constance, Germany

Premke¹,

Fischer

Hempel³

et al. 2010

Ann. Limnol. - Int. J. Lim.

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-Using field experiments, we investigated the effects of fish carcasses (so called 'food falls') on benthic fauna. We simulated food falls using freshly killed fish during two different seasons (spring and summer) in the littoral zone of a large, pre-alpine meso-oligotrophic lake in central Europe (Lake Constance, Germany). This study provides evidence that input in the form of fish carcasses may play an important role in nutrient dynamics within this ecosystem. The benthic communities in the vicitinity and underneath the food fall were strongly influenced by the food fall. The results show that this supply of organic matter has a significant influence on the relationships within the communities, which are clearly dominated by bacteria, followed by copepod nauplii, cyclopoid copepods, chironomids, and ostracods. Total decomposition was obtained between days 80 and 68 of the experiments. The food fall had a positively but not significant effect on meiofaunal assemblages in these experiments. Furthermore, the results showed a negative relationship between bacteria and meiofauna abundance, indicating grazing by the meiobenthos on the bacterial community. These findings support other studies that found that the meiofauna exerted a grazing pressure on the microbial community, where this process was important in the decomposition of carcasses. Moreover, this study shows the potential importance of fish carcasses in Lake Constance, where food falls may generate high abundances and diversity of the benthic fauna and support high bacterial activities in this littoral ecosystem.

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“…Marshall 1985Marshall , 1988Kiel and Goedert 2006a, b;Pailleret et al 2006), as well as in the study of the impressive taxonomic diversity of mussels (Samadi et al 2007;Lorion et al 2009). Moreover, the phylogenetic relationships among wood-, bone-, vent-, and seep-associated mussels led to propose the "stepping stones" hypothesis for the colonization of the deep-sea reducing environments (see Smith et al 1989;Distel et al 2000). Crustaceans constitute the second-largest zoological group in deep-sea wood falls, with many species of decapods as galatheid squat lobsters, pagurid hermit crabs and thalassinid shrimps, as well as with species of amphipods and isopods.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wood-based diet and gut microflora of a galatheid crab associated with Pacific deep-sea wood falls

et al. 2009

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Wood falls in the deep sea have recently become the focus of studies showing their importance as nutrients on the deep-sea Xoor. In such environments, Crustaceans constitute numerically the second-largest group after Mollusks. Many questions have arisen regarding their trophic role therein. A careful examination of the feeding appendages, gut contents, and gut lining of Munidopsis andamanica caught with wood falls revealed this species as a truly original detritivorous species using wood and the bioWlm covering it as two main food sources. Comparing individuals from other geographic areas from substrates not reported highlights the galatheid crab as specialist of refractory substrates, especially vegetal remains. M. andamanica also exhibits a resident gut microXora consisting of bacteria and fungi possibly involved in the digestion of wood fragments. The results suggest that Crustaceans could be fullXedged actors in the food chains of sunken-wood ecosystems and that feeding habits of some squat lobsters could be diVerent than scavenging.

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Vent fauna on whale remains

Cited by 296 publications

References 17 publications

Fossil traces of the bone-eating worm Osedax in early Oligocene whale bones

Fossil traces of the bone-eating worm Osedax in early Oligocene whale bones

Ecological studies on the decomposition rate of fish carcasses by benthic organisms in the littoral zone of Lake Constance, Germany

Wood-based diet and gut microflora of a galatheid crab associated with Pacific deep-sea wood falls

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