Dataset Information

Meiofaunal communities and nematode diversity characterizing the Secca delle Fumose shallow vent area (Gulf of Naples, Italy).

ABSTRACT: Hydrothermal venting is rather prevalent in many marine areas around the world, and marine shallow vents are relatively abundant in the Mediterranean Sea, especially around Italy. However, investigations focusing on the characterization of meiofaunal organisms inhabiting shallow vent sediments are still scant compared to that on macrofauna. In the present study, we investigated the meiobenthic assemblages and nematode diversity inhabiting the Secca delle Fumose (SdF), a shallow water vent area located in the Gulf of Naples (Italy). In this area, characterized by a rapid change in the environmental conditions on a relative small spatial scale (i.e., 100 m), we selected four sampling sites: one diffusive emission site (H); one geyser site (G) and two inactive sites (CN, CS). Total meiofauna abundance did not vary significantly between active and inactive sites and between surface and deeper sediment layers due to a high inter-replicate variability, suggesting a pronounced spatial-scale patchiness in distribution of meiofauna. Nematofauna at site H presented the typical features of deep-sea vents with low structural and functional diversity, high biomass and dominance of few genera (i.e., Oncholaimus; Daptonema) while from site G we reported diversity values comparable to that of the inactive sites. We hypothesized that site G presented a condition of "intermediate disturbance" that could maintain a high nematode diversity. Environmental features such as sediment temperature, pH, total organic carbon and interstitial waters ions were found to be key factors influencing patterns of meiofauna and nematofauna assemblages at SdF. Even though the general theory is that nematodes inhabiting shallow vent areas include a subset of species that live in background sediments, this was not the case for SdF vent area. Due to a marked change in nematode composition between all sites and to the presence of many exclusive species, every single investigated site was characterized by a distinct nematofauna reflecting the high spatial heterogeneity of SdF.

SUBMITTER: Baldrighi E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7263297 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Meiofaunal communities and nematode diversity characterizing the Secca delle Fumose shallow vent area (Gulf of Naples, Italy).

Baldrighi Elisa E Zeppilli Daniela D Appolloni Luca L Donnarumma Luigia L Chianese Elena E Russo Giovanni Fulvio GF Sandulli Roberto R

PeerJ 20200529

Hydrothermal venting is rather prevalent in many marine areas around the world, and marine shallow vents are relatively abundant in the Mediterranean Sea, especially around Italy. However, investigations focusing on the characterization of meiofaunal organisms inhabiting shallow vent sediments are still scant compared to that on macrofauna. In the present study, we investigated the meiobenthic assemblages and nematode diversity inhabiting the Secca delle Fumose (SdF), a shallow water vent area l ...[more]

PMID: 32523806

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Project description:Shallow-sea hydrothermal systems, like their deep-sea and terrestrial counterparts, can serve as relatively accessible portals into the microbial ecology of subsurface environments. In this study, we determined the chemical composition of 47 sediment porewater samples along a transect from a diffuse shallow-sea hydrothermal vent to a non-thermal background area in Paleochori Bay, Milos Island, Greece. These geochemical data were combined with thermodynamic calculations to quantify potential sources of energy that may support in situ chemolithotrophy. The Gibbs energies (?Gr) of 730 redox reactions involving 23 inorganic H-, O-, C-, N-, S-, Fe-, Mn-, and As-bearing compounds were calculated. Of these reactions, 379 were exergonic at one or more sampling locations. The greatest energy yields were from anaerobic CO oxidation with NO2- (-136 to -162 kJ/mol e-), followed by reactions in which the electron acceptor/donor pairs were O2/CO, NO3-/CO, and NO2-/H2S. When expressed as energy densities (where the concentration of the limiting reactant is taken into account), a different set of redox reactions are the most exergonic: in sediments affected by hydrothermal input, sulfide oxidation with a range of electron acceptors or nitrite reduction with different electron donors provide 85~245 J per kg of sediment, whereas in sediments less affected or unaffected by hydrothermal input, various S0 oxidation reactions and aerobic respiration reactions with several different electron donors are most energy-yielding (80~95 J per kg of sediment). A model that considers seawater mixing with hydrothermal fluids revealed that there is up to ~50 times more energy available for microorganisms that can use S0 or H2S as electron donors and NO2- or O2 as electron acceptors compared to other reactions. In addition to revealing likely metabolic pathways in the near-surface and subsurface mixing zones, thermodynamic calculations like these can help guide novel microbial cultivation efforts to isolate new species.

Dataset Information

Meiofaunal communities and nematode diversity characterizing the Secca delle Fumose shallow vent area (Gulf of Naples, Italy).

Publications

Meiofaunal communities and nematode diversity characterizing the Secca delle Fumose shallow vent area (Gulf of Naples, Italy).

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