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Associated fauna of Sponge grounds in the Cantabrian Sea. SponGES Project. Crustacea Decapoda. Expansion of distribution and new records of unusual species.

Teodoro P. Ibarrola1*, Pilar Rios1, Ines Fernandez1, Javier Cristobo1 and Francisco S. Delgado2
  • 1 Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO), Spain
  • 2 Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO), Spain

Introduction Sponge grounds in the North Atlantic are the object of study by the Sponges project in which an international consortium of scientific institutions participates, which deal with the multidisciplinary study of these ecosystems of great importance. Of the seven study areas of this project, two are located on the Iberian continental margin, Le Danois Bank and the Aviles Canyons System, in the Cantabrian Sea (Southern of Biscay Bay), Le Danois Bank is a submarine mountain that rises from the abyssal plain of the Bay of Biscay from 5000 to 450 meters at its summit. It has been well characterized, as an area of great ecological importance and Marine Protected Area since 2008. The Aviles Canyon System consists of three main canyons with different morpho-structural characteristics; Aviles, El Corbirio and La Gaviera and their valleys. This system has been designated since 2014 as Site of Community Importance (SCI) as defined in the EC Habitat directive. Different multispecific sponges grounds have been observed in this area and their taxonomic characterization is being studied. Aggregations dominated by the hexactinellid Pheronema carpenteri (Thomson,1869) as well as large specimens of Asconema setubalense Kent 1870, Phakellia spp., Geodia spp. and, Lithistids sponges. Also in these areas, important reef structures have been observed, dominated by the scleractinians Desmophyllum pertusum (Linnaeus,1758) (formerly Lophelia pertusa) and Madrepora oculata Linnaeus,1758, among others with the hexactinellids sponges Aphrocallistes beatrix Gray,1858 and Regradella phoenix Schmidt, 1880 growing on. Dense aggregations of megafauna, such as the sponge fields, constitute biogenic habitats that increase the three-dimensional heterogeneity of the seabed, forming microhabitats that harbour a great biodiversity. (Klitgaard, 1995, Bo et al., 2012, Beazley et al., 2013). The biodiversity associated with these sponge grounds is one of the objectives of the SponGES Project. Results This communication presents the results corresponding to the taxonomic study of the decapod crustaceans, obtained in the SponGES 0617 cruise in the Aviles Canyon System and Le Danois Bank and the study of samples collected in different previous surveys carried out in the same areas developed by the Life+ INDEMARES project. Highlighting among the samples belonging to these surveys, the presence of the following species: Uroptychus cartesi Baba & Macpherson, 2012 only known to date at Galicia Bank, this record represents an expansion of its distribution and first record in Biscay Bay. Munidopis vaillanti (Milne-Edwards, 1881), with known distribution in the Bay of Biscay but with scarce records (Milne-Edwards & Bouvier, 1894; 1900 and Lagardère, 1973) as Munidopsis media Milne-Edwards, 1884, invalid name. Munidopsis acutispina Benedict, 1902 species of wide distribution in the NE Atlantic; western Sahara and Azores Islands, (Milne-Edwards & Bouvier 1894, 1899, 1900), Mid Atlantic Ridge, (Macpherson and Segonzac, 2005), Galicia Bank (Cartes et al., 2013) and Mediterranean Sea (Froglia et al., 2002 ; Olu-Le Roy et al., 2004) Parapagurus nudus (Milne-Edwards, 1891), species of wide distribution Western Atlantic, off United States, Bahamas, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and eastern Atlantic, Azores Islands, Cape Verde Islands, Canary Islands, Gulf of Guinea (Lemaitre, 1986; 1989) and off Mauritania (Matos-Pita & Ramil, 2015). This new record represents a northern extension of its known distribution in the Eastern Atlantic and first record for the Bay of Biscay. Paralomis microps Filhol, 1884, to date only known by the type specimen obtained in the Bay of Biscay at 45º59 'N / 06º29'W depth of 1480m. A complete redescription of the type and summary of the taxonomic history of this species was made by Macpherson, 1988. The specimen obtained this study it is the second record since its description.

Acknowledgements

This research has been performed in the scope of the SponGES project, which received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 679849. This study was partially funded by the European Commission LIFE+ “Nature and Biodiversity” call, and included in the INDEMARES Project (07/NAT/E/000732). The Biodiversity Foundation, of the Ministry of the Environment, was the institution responsible for coordinating this project.

References

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Keywords: associated, Fauna, Crustacea, Decapoda, sponge, Ground, Cantabrian, sea, new, records

Conference: XX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies (SIEBM XX) , Braga, Portugal, 9 Sep - 12 Sep, 2019.

Presentation Type: Poster Presentation

Topic: Ecology, Biodiversity and Vulnerable Ecosystems

Citation: Ibarrola TP, Rios P, Fernandez I, Cristobo J and Delgado FS (2019). Associated fauna of Sponge grounds in the Cantabrian Sea. SponGES Project. Crustacea Decapoda. Expansion of distribution and new records of unusual species.. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: XX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies (SIEBM XX) . doi: 10.3389/conf.fmars.2019.08.00106

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Received: 14 May 2019; Published Online: 27 Sep 2019.

* Correspondence: Mr. Teodoro P Ibarrola, Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO), Madrid, Spain, teo.ibarrola@ieo.es