Vent-type taxa in a hydrocarbon seep region on the Louisiana slope

Nutritional associations among fauna at hydrocarbon seep communities in the Gulf of Mexico

“…In addition to providing insights into the biology of some of the individual species present at the seeps, this study clearly demonstrates the power of using a third isotope (S) for trophic analysis of seep, and presumably hydrothermal vent, communities. Since the seep communities were discovered in 1985 (Kennicutt et al 1985, Brooks et al 1987) photographs and observations have indicated that some fauna were consistently associated with the seeps. The elevated biomass and presence suggested that the closely associated fauna would derive the bulk of their nutrition from local chemoautolithotrophic production, even though these communities are present in relatively shallow waters where input of photosynthetic material is likely to be significant.…”

“…During trawls in the Green Canyon Lease area off the coast of Louisiana in 1985, previously unknown species of tube worms and bivalves were discovered near areas of seeping hydrocarbons and reduced sulfur gases (Kennicutt et al 1985, Brooks et al 1987. The Green Canyon tube worm and mussel species resembled the invertebrate species that had been discovered near hydrothermal vents in the late 1970s (Ballard 1977, Corliss & Ballard 1977.…”

“…The hydrothermal vent invertebrates contained symbiotic chemoautotrophic bacteria that oxidized reduced sulfur species for energy (reviewed by Childress & Fisher 1992). Because the worms and bivalves found at the hydrocarbon seeps were related to the hydrothermal vent invertebrates and occurred at high densities around the seeps, it was postulated that they contained symbiotic bacteria similar to those in the hydrothermal system (Kennicutt et al 1985). It was soon discovered that the tube worms (Seepiophila jonesi and Lamellibrachia luymesi) and clams (Calyptogena ponderosa, Lucinoma atlantis and Vesicomya cordata) harbored symbiotic sulfide-oxidizing chemoautolithotrophic bacteria and the dominant mussel (Bathymodiolus childressi) was symbiotic with methanotrophic bacteria (Childress et al 1986, Brooks et al 1987, Gardinar et al 2001).…”

Geochemical study of the bathyal seep communities at the Hatsushima site, Sagami Bay, Central Japan.

“…Recent oceanographic studies, particularly those using submersibles, have located exotic communities dominated by giant clams, mussels and tube worms associated with methane and/or sulfide -rich seepage systems at active conti nental margins off Oregon, U.S.A. (Suess et al, 1985;Kulm et al, 1986a), Peru (Kulm et al, 1986b) and the northeastern and southwestern Honshu, Japan (Laubier et al, 1986;Ohta and Laubier, 1987), as well as at the passive conti nental margins in the abyssal Gulf of Mexico off Florida (Paull et al, 1984) and off Louisiana (Kennicutt II et al, 1985). These communities are unusually prolific at the depths of their findings (600 to 5960m) where sufficient flux of particulate organic carbon from the euphotic zone is unlikely available for the community animals.…”

14C/12C and 13C/12C in the Shell of Calyptogena soyoae from the Subduction Zone in Sagami Bay and Upwelling Fluid on the Seafloor.

“…; subduction areas such as the Nankai Trough (Ohta and Laubier, 1987); and in the vicinity of hydrocarbon seepages such as the Louisiana slope (Kennicutt II et al, 1985). (Paull et al, 1984(Paull et al, , 1985 erupted in 1986 and 1989, respectively.…”