Oceanography The Official Magazine of
The Oceanography Society
Volume 25 Issue 03

View Issue TOC
Volume 25, No. 3
Pages 214 - 225

OpenAccess

Exploration of the Deep-Sea Fauna of Papua New Guinea

By Eric Pante, Laure Corbari , Justine Thubaut , Tin-Yam Chan , Ralph Mana , Marie-Catherine Boisselier , Philippe Bouchet , and Sarah Samadi  
Jump to
Article Abstract Citation References Copyright & Usage
Article Abstract

Little is known of New Guinea’s deep benthic communities. In fall 2010, the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, and University of Papua New Guinea spearheaded an international three-leg cruise, BioPapua, aimed at exploring the deep waters of eastern Papua New Guinea and its satellite islands. Special attention was given to faunal assemblages associated with sunken wood and decomposing vegetation as well as seamount summits and slopes. In this article, we review the information available on the deep ecosystems of Papua New Guinea and summarize preliminary results of the BioPapua cruise.

Citation

Pante, E., L. Corbari, J. Thubaut, T.-Y. Chan, R. Mana, M.-C. Boisselier, P. Bouchet, and S. Samadi. 2012. Exploration of the deep-sea fauna of Papua New Guinea. Oceanography 25(3):214–225, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2012.65.

References
    Allain, V., J-A. Kerandel, S. Andréfouët, F. Magron, M. Clark, D.S. Kirby, and F.E. Muller-Karger. 2008. Enhanced seamount location database for the western and central Pacific Ocean: Screening and cross-checking of 20 existing datasets. Deep-Sea Research Part I 55:1,035–1,047, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2008.04.004.
  1. Althaus, F., A. Williams, T.A. Schlacher, R.J. Kloser, M.A. Green, B.A. Barker, N.J. Bax, P. Brodie, and M.A. Schlacher-Hoenlinger. 2009. Impacts of bottom trawling on deep-coral ecosystems of seamounts are long-lasting. Marine Ecology Progress Series 397:279–294, https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08248.
  2. Auzende, J., J. Ishibashi, Y. Beaudoin, J. Charlou, J. Delteil, J. Donval, Y. Fouquet, J. Gouillou, B. Ildefonse, H. Kimura, and others. 2000. The eastern and western tips of Manus Basin (Papua, New Guinea) explored by submersible: MANAUTE cruise. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences, Série II, Sciences de la Terre et des Planetes 331:119–126, https://doi.org/10.1016/S1251-8050(00)01387-2.
  3. Bachraty, C., P. Legendre, and D. Desbruyères. 2009. Biogeographic relationships among deep-sea hydrothermal vent faunas at global scale. Deep-Sea Research Part I 56:1,371–1,378, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2009.01.009.
  4. Becker, P.T., S. Samadi, M. Zbinden, C. Hoyoux, P. Compère, and C. De Ridder. 2009. First insights into the gut microflora associated with an echinoid from wood falls environments. Cahiers de Biologie Marine 50:343–352, http://hdl.handle.net/2268/77107.
  5. Belyaev, G.M. 1972. Hadal Bottom Fauna of the World Ocean. Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem, 199 pp. [Translated from Russian]
  6. Both, R., K. Crook, B. Taylor, S. Brogan, B. Chappell, E. Frankel, L. Liu, J. Sinton, and D. Tiffin. 1986. Hydrothermal chimneys and associated fauna in the Manus back-arc basin, Papua New Guinea. Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union 67:489–490, https://doi.org/10.1029/EO067i021p00489.
  7. Bouchet, P., V. Héros, P. Lozouet, and P. Maestrati. 2008. A quarter-century of deep-sea malacological exploration in the South and West Pacific: Where do we stand? How far to go? Pp. 9–40 in Tropical Deep-Sea Benthos 25. V. Héros, R.H. Cowie, and P. Bouchet, eds, Mémoires du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, vol. 196.
  8. Castelin, M. 2010. Lien entre endémisme et développement larvaire en milieu marin. Le cas des gastéropodes des monts sous-marins de la Zone Economique Exclusive de Nouvelle Calédonie. PhD dissertation, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris.
  9. Castelin, M., J. Lambourdière, M. Boisselier, P. Lozouet, A. Couloux, C. Cruaud, and S. Samadi. 2010. Hidden diversity and endemism on seamounts: Focus on poorly dispersive neogastropods. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 100:420–438, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2010.01424.x.
  10. Chan, T.Y. 2012. A new genus of deep-sea solenocerid shrimp (Decapoda: Penaeoidea) from Papua New Guinea. Journal of Crustacean Biology 32:489–495.
  11. Clark, M.R., A.A. Rowden, T. Schlacher, A. Williams, M. Consalvey, K.I. Stocks, A.D. Rogers, T.D. O’Hara, M. White, T.M. Shank, and J.M. Hall-Spencer. 2010. The ecology of seamounts: Structure, function, and human impacts. Annual Review of Marine Science 2:253–278, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-120308-081109.
  12. Desbruyères, D., J. Hashimoto, and M.-C. Fabri. 2006. Composition and biogeography of hydrothermal vent communities in western Pacific back-arc basins. Pp. 215–234 in Geophysical Monograph Series, vol. 166. D.M. Christie, C.R. Fisher, S.-M. Lee, and S. Givens, eds, American Geophysical Union, https://doi.org/10.1029/166GM11.
  13. Diamond, J.M. 1972. Biogeographic kinetics: Estimation of relaxation times for avifaunas of southwest Pacific islands. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 69:3,199–3,203.
  14. Diamond, J.M. 1973. Distributional ecology of New Guinea birds: Recent ecological and biogeographical theories can be tested on the bird communities of New Guinea. Science 179:759–769, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.179.4075.759.
  15. Diamond, J.M. 1975. The island dilemma: Lessons of modern biogeographic studies for the design of natural reserves. Biological Conservation 7:129–146, https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3207(75)90052-X.
  16. Distel, D., A.R. Baco, E. Chuang, W. Morrill, C. Cavanaugh, and C.R. Smith. 2000. Marine ecology: Do mussels take wooden steps to deep-sea vents? Nature 403:725–726, https://doi.org/10.1038/35001667.
  17. Distel, D., and S. Roberts. 1997. Bacterial endosymbionts in the gills of the deep-sea wood-boring bivalves Xylophaga atlantica and Xylophaga washingtona. Biological Bulletin 192:253–261.
  18. Dupont, J., S. Magnin, F. Rousseau, M. Zbinden, G. Frebourg, S. Samadi, B. Richer de Forges, and E.B.G. Jones. 2009. Molecular and ultrastructural characterization of two ascomycetes found on sunken wood off Vanuatu Islands in the deep Pacific Ocean. Mycological Research 113:1,351–1,364, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mycres.2009.08.015.
  19. Etnoyer, P., J. Wood, and T. Shirley. 2010. How large is the seamount biome? Oceanography 23(1):206–209, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2010.96.
  20. Flannery, T. 1998. Throwim Way Leg: Tree-kangaroos, Possums, and Penis Gourds: On the Track of Unknown Mammals in Wildest New Guinea. Grove Press, New York, 327 pp.
  21. Hall, R. 2002. Cenozoic geological and plate tectonic evolution of SE Asia and the SW Pacific: Computer-based reconstructions, model and animations. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 20:353–431, https://doi.org/10.1016/S1367-9120(01)00069-4.
  22. Hamilton, A.J., Y. Basset, K.K. Benke, P.S. Grimbacher, S.E. Miller, V. Novotný, G.A. Samuelson, N.E. Stork, G.D. Weiblen, and J.D.L. Yen. 2010. Quantifying uncertainty in estimation of tropical arthropod species richness. The American Naturalist 176:90–95, https://doi.org/10.1086/652998.
  23. Hessler, R.R., and P.F. Lonsdale. 1991. Biogeography of Mariana Trough hydrothermal vent communities. Deep-Sea Research Part A 38:185–199, https://doi.org/10.1016/0198-0149(91)90079-U.
  24. Hoagland, P., S. Beaulieu, M.A. Tivey, R.G. Eggert, C. German, L. Glowka, and J. Lin. 2010. Deep-sea mining of seafloor massive sulfides. Marine Policy 34:728–732, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2009.12.001.
  25. Hoyoux, C., M. Zbinden, S. Samadi, F. Gaill, and P. Compère. 2009. Wood-based diet and gut microflora of a galatheid crab associated with Pacific deep-sea wood falls. Marine Biology 156:2,421–2,439, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-009-1266-2.
  26. Kyuno, A., M. Shintaku, Y. Fujita, H. Matsumoto, M. Utsumi, H. Watanabe, Y. Fujiwara, and J.-I. Miyazaki. 2009. Dispersal and differentiation of deep-sea mussels of the genus Bathymodiolus (Mytilidae, Bathymodiolinae). Journal of Marine Biology Article ID 625672, 15 pp., https://doi.org/10.1155/2009/625672.
  27. Lisitsyn, A.P., K.A.W. Crook, Y.A. Bogdanov, L.P. Zonenshayn, K.G. Murav’yev, W. Tufar, Y.G. Gurvich, V.V. Gordeyev, and G.V. Ivanov. 1993. A hydrothermal field in the rift zone of the Manus Basin, Bismarck Sea. International Geology Review 35:105–126, https://doi.org/10.1080/00206819309465517.
  28. Lonsdale, P. 1977. Clustering of suspension-feeding macrobenthos near abyssal hydrothermal vents at oceanic spreading centers. Deep-Sea Research 24:857–858, https://doi.org/10.1016/0146-6291(77)90478-7.
  29. Lorion, J., B. Buge, C. Cruaud, and S. Samadi. 2010. New insights into diversity and evolution of deep-sea Mytilidae (Mollusca: Bivalvia). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 57:71–83, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2010.05.027.
  30. Lorion, J., S. Duperron, O. Gros, C. Cruaud, and S. Samadi. 2009. Several deep-sea mussels and their associated symbionts are able to live both on wood and on whale falls. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 275:177–185, https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2008.1101.
  31. Lorion, J., and S. Samadi. 2010. Species richness, sampling bias and phylogenetics in deep-sea mussels. Cahiers de Biologie Marine 51:435–439.
  32. MacArthur, R.H., and E.O. Wilson. 1967. The Theory of Island Biogeography. Princeton University Press, 203 pp.
  33. Macpherson, E., B. Richer de Forges, K. Schnabel, S. Samadi, M.-C. Boisselier, and A. Garcia-Rubies. 2010. Biogeography of the deep-sea galatheid squat lobsters of the Pacific Ocean. Deep-Sea Research Part I 57:228–238, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2009.11.002.
  34. Mayr, E. 1942. Systematics and the Origin of Species. Columbia University Press, New York, NY, 334 pp.
  35. Morato, T., S.D. Hoyle, V. Allain, and S.J. Nicol. 2010. Seamounts are hotspots of pelagic biodiversity in the open ocean. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107:9,707–9,711, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0910290107.
  36. Novotný, V., Y. Basset, S.E. Miller, G.D. Weiblen, B. Bremer, L. Cizek, and P. Drozd. 2002. Low host specificity of herbivorous insects in a tropical forest. Nature 416:841–844, https://doi.org/10.1038/416841a.
  37. Pante, E., S.C. France, A. Couloux, C. Cruaud, C.S. McFadden, S. Samadi, L. Watling. 2012. Deep-sea origin and in-situ diversification of chrysogorgiid octocorals. PLoS ONE 7(6):e38357, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0038357.
  38. Puillandre, N., A.V. Sysoev, B.M. Olivera, A. Couloux, and P. Bouchet. 2010. Loss of planktotrophy and speciation: Geographical fragmentation in the deep-water gastropod genus Bathytoma (Gastropoda, Conoidea) in the western Pacific. Systematics and Biodiversity 8:371–394, https://doi.org/10.1080/14772001003748709.
  39. Ray, D. 1959. Marine fungi and wood borer attack. Proceedings of the American Wood Preservers Association 55:1–7.
  40. Ray, D., and D. Stuntz. 1959. Possible relation between marine fungi and Limnoria on submerged wood. Science 129:93–94, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.129.3341.93.
  41. Richer de Forges, B., and L. Corbari. 2012. A new species of Oxypleurodon Miers, 1886 (Crustacea, Brachyura, Majoidea) from the Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea. Zootaxa 3320:56–60.
  42. Rowden, A.A., J.F. Dower, T.A. Schlacher, M. Consalvey, and M.R. Clark. 2010. Paradigms in seamount ecology: Fact, fiction and future. Marine Ecology 31:226–241, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0485.2010.00400.x.
  43. Samadi, S., E. Quéméré, J. Lorion, A. Tillier, R. von Cosel, P. Lopez, C. Cruaud, A. Couloux, and M. Boisselier-Dubayle. 2007a. Molecular phylogeny in mytilids supports the wooden steps to deep-sea vents hypothesis. Comptes Rendus Biologies 330:446–456, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crvi.2007.04.001.
  44. Samadi, S., T. Schlacher, and B. Richer de Forges. 2007b. Seamount benthos. Pp. 117–140 in Seamounts: Ecology, Fisheries & Conservation. T.J. Pitcher, T. Morato, P.J.B. Hart, M.R. Clark, N. Haggan, and R.S. Santos, eds, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., Oxford, UK, https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470691953.ch7.
  45. Samadi, S., L. Corbari, J. Lorion, S. Hourdez, T. Haga, J. Dupont, M.-C. Boisselier, and B. Richer de Forges. 2010. Biodiversity of deep-sea organisms associated with sunken-wood or other organic remains sampled in the tropical Indo-Pacific. Cahiers de Biologie Marine 51:459–466.
  46. Stocks, K. 2009. SeamountsOnline: An Online Information System for Seamount Biology. Available online at http://seamounts.sdsc.edu (accessed June 20, 2011).
  47. Tregoning, P., H. McQueen, K. Lambeck, R. Jackson, R. Little, S. Saunders, and R. Rosa. 2000. Present-day crustal motion in Papua New Guinea. Earth Planets and Space 52:727–730.
  48. Tufar, W. 1990. Modern hydrothermal activity, formation of complex massive sulfide deposits and associated vent communities in the Manus back-arc basin (Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea). Mitteilung der Osterreichen Geologischen Gesellshaft 82:183–210.
  49. Tyler, P., and C. Young. 2003. Dispersal at hydrothermal vents: A summary of recent progress. Hydrobiologia 503:9–19, https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HYDR.0000008492.53394.6b.
  50. Vanden Berghe, E., ed. 2007. The Ocean Biogeographic Information System: Web Pages, http://www.iobis.org (accessed August 12, 2011).
  51. Van Dover, C. 2011. Mining seafloor massive sulphides and biodiversity: What is at risk? ICES Journal of Marine Science 68:341–348, https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsq086.
  52. Van Dover, C., C. German, K. Speer, L. Parson, and R. Vrijenhoek. 2002. Evolution and biogeography of deep-sea vent and seep invertebrates. Science 295:1,253–1,257, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1067361.
  53. Veron, J.E.N., L.M. Devantier, E. Turak, A.L. Green, S. Kininmonth, M. Stafford-Smith, and N. Peterson. 2009. Delineating the Coral Triangle. Galaxea, Journal of Coral Reef Studies 11:91–100.
  54. Vrijenhoek, R.C. 2010. Genetic diversity and connectivity of deep-sea hydrothermal vent metapopulations. Molecular Ecology 19:4,391–4,411, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2010.04789.x.
  55. Wallace, A. 1869. The Malay Archipelago: The Land of the OrangUtan, and the Bird of Paradise. Harper & Brothers, New York, 638 pp.
  56. Wallace, A. 1876. The Geographical Distribution of Animals. Macmillan, London, 607 pp.
  57. Warén, A. 2011. Molluscs on biogenic substrates. Pp 438–448 in The Natural History of Santo. P. Bouchet, H. Le Guyader, and O. Pascal, eds, Patrimoines Naturels, vol. 70, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, France.
  58. Waterbury, J., C. Calloway, and R. Turner. 1983. A cellulolytic-nitrogen fixing bacterium cultured from the gland of Deshayes in shipworms. Science 221:1,401–1,403, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.221.4618.1401.
  59. Watling, L., S.C. France, E. Pante, and A. Simpson. 2011. Biology of deep-water octocorals. Advances in Marine Biology 60:41–123, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-385529-9.00002-0.
  60. Wessel, P., D.T. Sandwell, and S.S. Kim. 2010. The global seamount census. Oceanography 23(1):24–33, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2010.60.
  61. Williams, A., T.A. Schlacher, A.A. Rowden, F. Althaus, M.R. Clark, D.A. Bowden, R. Stewart, N.J. Bax, M. Consalvey, and R.J. Kloser. 2010. Seamount megabenthic assemblages fail to recover from trawling impacts. Marine Ecology 31:183–199, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0485.2010.00385.x.
  62. Wolff, T. 1979. Macrofaunal utilization of plant remains in the deep-sea. Sarsia 64:117–136.
  63. Yesson, C., M.R. Clark, M.L. Taylor, and A.D. Rogers. 2011. The global distribution of seamounts based on 30 arc seconds bathymetry data. Deep-Sea Research Part I 58:442–453, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2011.02.004.
  64. Zbinden, M., M. Pailleret, J. Ravaux, S.M. Gaudron, C. Hoyoux, J. Lambourdière, A. Warén, J. Lorion, S. Halary, and S. Duperron. 2010. Bacterial communities associated with the wood-feeding gastropod Pectinodonta sp. (Patellogastropoda, Mollusca). FEMS Microbiology Ecology 74:450–463, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2010.00959.x.
Copyright & Usage

This is an open access article made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format as long as users cite the materials appropriately, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate the changes that were made to the original content. Images, animations, videos, or other third-party material used in articles are included in the Creative Commons license unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If the material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission directly from the license holder to reproduce the material.