Giant amphipod from the abyssal pacific ocean

Gut Microbial Divergence between Two Populations of the Hadal Amphipod Hirondellea gigas

Hadal environments sustain diverse microorganisms. A few studies have investigated hadal microbial communities consisting of free-living or particle-associated bacteria and archaea. However, animal-associated microbial communities in hadal environments remain largely unexplored, and comparative analyses of animal gut microbiota between two isolated hadal environments have never been done so far. In the present study, 228 Gb of gut metagenomes of the giant amphipod Hirondellea gigas from two hadal trenches, the Mariana Trench and Japan Trench, were sequenced and analyzed. Taxonomic analysis identified 49 microbial genera commonly shared by the gut microbiota of the two H. gigas populations. However, the results of statistical analysis, in congruency with the alpha and beta diversity analyses, revealed significant differences in gut microbial composition across the two trenches. Abundance variation of Psychromonas, Propionibacterium, and Pseudoalteromonas species was observed. Microbial cooccurrence was demonstrated for microbes that were overrepresented in the Mariana trench. Comparison of functional potential showed that the percentage of carbohydrate metabolic genes among the total microbial genes was significantly higher in the guts of H. gigas specimens from the Mariana Trench. Integrating carbon input information and geological characters of the two hadal trenches, we propose that the differences in the community structure might be due to several selective factors, such as environmental variations and microbial interactions.IMPORTANCE The taxonomic composition and functional potential of animal gut microbiota in deep-sea environments remain largely unknown. Here, by performing comparative metagenomics, we suggest that the gut microbial compositions of two Hirondellea gigas populations from the Mariana Trench and the Japan Trench have undergone significant divergence. Through analyses of functional potentials and microbe-microbe correlations, our findings shed light on the contributions of animal gut microbiota to host adaptation to hadal environments.

Genome Reduction in Psychromonas Species within the Gut of an Amphipod from the Ocean's Deepest Point

Amphipods are the dominant scavenging metazoan species in the Mariana Trench, the deepest known point in Earth's oceans. Here the gut microbiota of the amphipod Hirondellea gigas collected from the Challenger and Sirena Deeps of the Mariana Trench were investigated. The 11 amphipod individuals included for analyses were dominated by Psychromonas, of which a nearly complete genome was successfully recovered (designated CDP1). Compared with previously reported free-living Psychromonas strains, CDP1 has a highly reduced genome. Genome alignment showed deletion of the trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) reducing gene cluster in CDP1, suggesting that the "piezolyte" function of TMAO is more important than its function in respiration, which may lead to TMAO accumulation. In terms of nutrient utilization, the bacterium retains its central carbohydrate metabolism but lacks most of the extended carbohydrate utilization pathways, suggesting the confinement of Psychromonas to the host gut and sequestration from more variable environmental conditions. Moreover, CDP1 contains a complete formate hydrogenlyase complex, which might be involved in energy production. The genomic analyses imply that CDP1 may have developed adaptive strategies for a lifestyle within the gut of the hadal amphipod H. gigas. IMPORTANCE As a unique but poorly investigated habitat within marine ecosystems, hadal trenches have received interest in recent years. This study explores the gut microbial composition and function in hadal amphipods, which are among the dominant carrion feeders in hadal habitats. Further analyses of a dominant strain revealed genomic features that may contribute to its adaptation to the amphipod gut environment. Our findings provide new insights into animal-associated bacteria in the hadal biosphere.

Animals in deep sea sediments

Recent studies of the unexpectedly diverse assemblages of ainimals living either in, or on, deep sea sediments have revealed a community of extremely low standing crop—seemingly directly attributable to the low fallout of utilisable organic matter onto the bottom. This benthic community is also characterised by small organism size and probable low rates of biological activity measured as respiration or reproduction.

Strictly comparable sampling methods demonstrate a close similarity between Rockall Trough (NE Atlantic) and the central N Pacific in terms of the proportions of major faunal groupings present, even if the constituent species are different, despite considerable differences in standing crop. Therefore the relative proportions of the wide spectrum of small, but not necessarily simple, forms of life that comprise the deep sea benthos may vary, but little, over wide areas of the world ocean. Moreover, considerable affinity of this fauna in Rockall Trough to that of the soft muds of Scottish sea lochs is suggested, even to species common to both habitats.

The deep sea fauna seems homogeneously dispersed over large areas, the major variability occurring at the smallest possible scale—that of the size Of the organisms themselves: by structuring their habitat into a myriad of microniches these animals probably have evolved a biologically highly complex type of community, characteristically vulnerable to, and slow to recover from natural and anthropogenic perturbation. The effect on this fragile and still obscure natural community, in realizing proposals to harvest deep sea minerals, is thus likely to be local extinction of the community followed by extremely slow recovery by means of larval recruitment and immigration from surrounding areas.

Macrobenthic biomass relations in the Faroe-Shetland Channel: an Arctic-Atlantic boundary environment

The Faroe-Shetland Channel, located in the NE Atlantic, ranges in depth from 0–1700 m and is an unusual deep-sea environment because of its complex and dynamic hydrographic regime, as well as having numerous different seafloor habitats. Macrofaunal samples have been collected on a 0.5 mm mesh sieve from over 300 stations in a wide area survey and on nested 0.5 and 0.25 mm mesh sieves along a specific depth transect. Contrary to general expectation, macrofauanl biomass in the Channel did not decline with increasing depth. When examined at phylum level, two main biomass patterns with depth were apparent: (a) polychaetes showed little change in biomass on the upper slope then increased markedly below 500 m to a depth of 1100 m before declining; and (b) other phyla showed enhanced biomass between 300–500 m. The polychaete response may be linked with a seafloor environment change to relatively quiescent hydrodynamic conditions and an increasing sediment mud content that occurs at c. 500 m. In contrast, the mid-slope enhancement of other phyla biomass may reflect the hydrodynamically active interface between the warm and cold water masses present in the Channel at c. 300–500 m. Again contrary to expectation, mean macrofaunal body size did not decline with depth, and the relative contribution of smaller (>0.25 mm<0.5 mm) to total (>0.25 mm) macrobenthos did not increase with depth. Overall our total biomass and average individual biomass estimates appear to be greater than those predicted from global analyses. It is clear that global models of benthic biomass distribution may mask significant variations at the local and regional scale.

Recovery and maintenance of live amphipods at a pressure of 580 bars from an ocean depth of 5700 meters

Amphipods were collected from an ocean depth of 5700 meters in a windowed pressure-retaining trap, kept alive in the trap for as long as 9 days aboard ship, and transported to a land laboratory. Observations suggest that the animals can easily tolerate decompressions of 29 percent and briefly of 70 percent of the value of 580 bars, the pressure of their natural habitat. The average pleopod beat frequency was 106 beats per minute. Evidence suggests that food (fish bait) can have at least a 4-day residence time in the gut of these animals.

Metabolic activities of the intestinal microflora of a deep-sea invertebrate

The intestinal microflora of deep-sea amphipods, in enrichment culture employing starch, urea, and N-acetyl-d-glucosamine and when examined under simulated in situ conditions, exhibited growth rates and substrate conversion approximately equal to, or greater than, atmospheric controls during short-term incubation. These observations are significant since these microorganisms may play an important role in biodegradation in the deep sea.

Morphology of the compound eye of the giant deep-sea isopod Bathynomus giganteus

The structural organization of the compound eye of the largest known isopod, Bathynomus giganteus, is described from four specimens maintained in the laboratory for as long as two months. Living specimens have not previously been available for study. The two triangular compound eyes measure about 18 mm on the dorsal edge and are separated by an interocular distance of 25 mm. They face forward and slightly downward and may have significant overlap in visual fields. Each eye contains about 3,500 ommatidia in animals of body lengths from 22.5 cm to 37.5 cm. The packing of ommatidia is not uniform across the retina, but is nearly hexagonal in the dorsal central region and nearly square in the ventral and lateral periphery. The dioptric elements in each ommatidium consist of a laminar cornea, which is flat externally and convex internally, and a bipartite crystalline cone. Sometimes seven and sometimes eight retinular cells closely appose the proximal tip of the cone and bear the microvilli of the rhabdom. Proximal to the rhabdom the retinular cells form thin pillars near the periphery of the ommatidium, and the central portion along the optic axis at this level is occupied by interstitial cells that contain massive arrays of clear vesicles thought to serve as reflective elements. The arhabdomeral segments of the retinular cells and the interstitial cells rest on a basement membrane. Within each ommatidium the basement membrane has two extensions with cylindrical cores and thin sheets of dense material and collagen-like filaments. These sheets occupy spaces between adjacent interstitial cells up to the level of the rhabdomeral segments of the retinular cells. Arrays of pigment cells with relatively weak light-screening properties separate adjacent ommatidia. Animals were fixed both in light within a week of being brought from depth into daylight, and after 2 months of maintenance in constant darkness following such daylight exposure. In both cases, microvilli of the rhabdom were severely disrupted and the retinular cytoplasm contained numerous multivesicular bodies. Exposure to natural daylight appears to cause irreversible structural damage to the photoreceptors of these animals.

Barophilic Bacteria Associated with Digestive Tracts of Abyssal Holothurians

Abyssal holothurians and sediment samples were collected at depths of 4,430 to 4,850 m in the Demerara abyssal plain. Bacterial concentrations in progressive sections of the holothurian digestive tract, as well as in surrounding surface sediments, were determined by epifluorescence microscopy. Total bacterial counts in sediments recently ingested by the animals were 1.5- to 3-fold higher than in surrounding sediments at the deepest station. Lowest counts were observed consistently in the foregut, where the digestive processes of the holothurian are believed to occur. In most animals, counts increased 3- to 10-fold in the hindgut. Microbial activity at 3°C and in situ and atmospheric pressure were determined for gut and sediment samples by measuring the utilization of [ 14 C]glutamic acid, the doubling time of the mixed-population of culturable bacteria, and the percentage of the total bacterial count responsive to yeast extract in the presence of nalidixic acid, using epifluorescence microscopy. A barophilic microbial population, showing elevated activity under deep-sea pressure, was detected by all three methods in sediments removed from the hindgut. Transmission electron micrographs revealed intact bacteria directly associated with the intestinal lining only in the hindgut. The bacteria are believed to be carried as an actively metabolizing, commensal gut flora that transforms organic matter present in abyssal sediments ingested by the holothurian. Using data obtained in this study, it was calculated that sediment containing organic matter altered by microbial activity cleared the holothurian gut every 16 h, suggesting that abyssal holothurians and their associated gut flora are important participants in nutrient cycles of the abyssal benthic ocean.

Life Below the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica

Samples and observations under 420 meters of ice and 430 kilometers from the open sea on the Ross Ice Shelf at a water depth of 597 meters revealed an unusual assemblage of benthic organisms. Scavenging amphipods, an isopod, and fish were present but a living infauna was absent. The observations may be accounted for by sampling or spatial bias, or by extremely low or fluctuating trophic resources.