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Megafauna of the Charlie–Gibbs Fracture Zone (northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge) based on video observations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2013

A.V. Gebruk  and
E.M. Krylova
A.V. Gebruk*
Affiliation:
P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nakhimovsky Precinct, 36, Moscow, 117997, Russia
E.M. Krylova
Affiliation:
P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nakhimovsky Precinct, 36, Moscow, 117997, Russia
*
Correspondence should be addressed to:A.V. Gebruk, P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nakhimovsky Precinct, 36, Moscow, 117997, Russia email: agebruk@ocean.ru.
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Abstract

Megafauna from the Charlie–Gibbs Fracture Zone (northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge) based on video observations from submersibles was analysed. Species composition was examined, frequency of species occurrence on the fracture wall and its base (depth range from 1740 m to 3100 m) and density of megafauna in the depression at the fracture zone bottom (4200–4500 m depth) were evaluated. At depths between 1700 and 2500 m hexactinellid sponges were most common and diverse. Deeper parts of the wall and its base were dominated by anthozoans (especially gorgonian corals) and echinoderms. A set of dominant species in the lower bathyal in the study area was different from that on the lower continental slope in the north-east Atlantic (Porcupine Seabight). An important contribution to local species richness of ‘rare’ species was demonstrated. The elpidiid holothurian, Kolga nana, occurred at high density in the abyssal depression.

Keywords

Mid-Atlantic RidgeCharlie–Gibbs Fracture Zonemegafaunavideo observations
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 93 , Issue 5 , August 2013 , pp. 1143 - 1150
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2013 

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