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Diversity and endemism of the benthic seamount fauna in the southwest Pacific

Nature volume 405, pages 944–947 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

Seamounts comprise a unique deep-sea environment, characterized by substantially enhanced currents and a fauna that is dominated by suspension feeders, such as corals1,2,3,4. The potential importance of these steep-sided undersea mountains, which are generally of volcanic origin, to ocean biogeography and diversity was recognized over 40 years ago5, but this environment has remained very poorly explored. A review3 of seamount biota and biogeography reported a total of 597 invertebrate species recorded from seamounts worldwide since the Challenger expedition of 1872. Most reports, based on a single taxonomic group, were extremely limited: 5 seamounts of the estimated more than 30,000 seamounts in the world's oceans4,6 accounted for 72% of the species recorded. Only 15% of the species occurring on seamounts were considered potential seamount endemics. Here we report the discovery of more than 850 macro- and megafaunal species from seamounts in the Tasman Sea and southeast Coral Sea, of which 29–34% are new to science and potential seamount endemics. Low species overlap between seamounts in different portions of the region indicates that the seamounts in clusters or along ridge systems function as ‘island groups’ or ‘chains,’ leading to highly localized species distributions and apparent speciation between groups or ridge systems that is exceptional for the deep sea. These results have substantial implications for the conservation of this fauna, which is threatened by fishing activity7.

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Figure 1: Location of seamount sampling sites (triangles) and topographic and oceanographic features mentioned in the text.
Figure 2
Figure 3: The coefficient of community (C) in relation to distance.

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Acknowledgements

Results from the northern Tasman Sea were obtained as part of the MUSORSTOM program, a collaboration between ORSTOM and the Natural History Museum in Paris, and involved some 181 researchers from 92 Institutions and 24 nations. Work around Tasmania was supported by CSIRO and grants from Environment Australia and the Fisheries Research Development Corporation and involved 25 researchers. Their contributions are gratefully acknowledged; in particular, we thank R. Grandperrin, A. Crosnier, P. Bouchet, K. Gowlett-Holmes, M. Lewis, S. Cummings, J.S. Philippe and the crews of the RV Alis and Southern Surveyor. J.A.K. received support from a National Research Council Senior Research Fellowship.

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Author notes

  1. Bertrand Richer de Forges, J. Anthony Koslow and G. C. B. Poore: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre IRD de Noumea, BP A5, Noumea Cedex, 98848, New Caledonia

    Bertrand Richer de Forges

  2. CSIRO Marine Research, GPO Box 1538 , Hobart, 7001, Tasmania, Australia

    J. Anthony Koslow

  3. Museum of Victoria, 71 Victoria Crescent, Abbotsford, 3067, Victoria, Australia

    J. Anthony Koslow & G. C. B. Poore

Authors
  1. Bertrand Richer de Forges
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  2. J. Anthony Koslow
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  3. G. C. B. Poore
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Correspondence to J. Anthony Koslow.

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Richer de Forges, B., Koslow, J. & Poore, G. Diversity and endemism of the benthic seamount fauna in the southwest Pacific. Nature 405, 944–947 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35016066

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