Abstract
In the Antarctic seas, where hard substrates are scarce, the presence of secondary bio-substrates formed by calcareous organisms is an essential condition to increase the epibiosis and therefore the diversity of sessile benthic fauna. The aggregations of stylasterid hydrozoa, with their branched carbonate structures, are an example of a secondary habitat defined as a ‘deep marine animal forest’. The three-dimensional habitat made by these corals supports a high biodiversity of associated organisms, usually invertebrates. Recently, deep remotely operated vehicle (ROV) exploration of the Iselin Bank and the Hallett Ridge (Ross Sea, Antarctica) documented wide areas characterised by large thanatocoenosis of stylasterid skeletons lying on flat muddy substrates, with scattered living colonies generally made of few short branches. In our study, sponges associated with 54 dead colonies of two stylasterid species recorded in these areas were investigated. The analysis led to the discovery of a remarkable number of specimens (127) ascribed to 38 sponge species (31 encrusting and 7 massive). Two of these sponges, Asbestopluma (Asbetopluma) sinuosa and Lissodendoryx (Ectyodoryx) inferiolabiatae, are new. In light of the present data, we can assume that, in Antarctica, stylasterid skeletal remains, due to their three-dimensional structure, play an important role in maintaining sponge biodiversity. This is also due to the ability of sponge specie to produce miniaturised specimens able to colonise these peculiar substrata.
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The authors are grateful to Tim McNelis for correcting the English language. The authors are grateful to the three reviewers for their criticisms, corrections and advice, and we are very grateful to the non-anonymous reviewer Dr. Dorte Janussen for the compliments on our manuscript.
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The project PNRA-GRACEFUL (Grant No. PNRA16_00069) contributed to the study providing the stylasterid samples, video footage and still photographs of the seafloor of the Ross Sea.
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G.C. and M.B. identified the sponge samples and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. M.C. analysed the data at a statistical level. S.C. and C.M. collected samples during Antarctic expedition. S.P. identified the stylasterid samples. G.B., M.C., P.M. and S.S. contributed to improve the final version of the manuscript. All authors contributed to manuscript corrections and improved the final version.
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Costa, G., Bavestrello, G., Canese, S. et al. Sponges associated with stylasterid thanatocoenosis (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) from the deep Ross Sea (Southern Ocean). Polar Biol 45, 703–718 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-022-03023-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-022-03023-6