| one publication added to basket [256212] | Functional effects of the hadal sea cucumber Elpidia atakama (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea, Elasipodida) reflect small-scale patterns of resource availability
Jamieson, A.J.; Gebruk, A.; Fujii, T.; Solan, M. (2011). Functional effects of the hadal sea cucumber Elpidia atakama (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea, Elasipodida) reflect small-scale patterns of resource availability. Mar. Biol. (Berl.) 158(12): 2695-2703. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00227-011-1767-7
In: Marine Biology: International Journal on Life in Oceans and Coastal Waters. Springer: Heidelberg; Berlin. ISSN 0025-3162; e-ISSN 1432-1793, more
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| Authors | | Top |
- Jamieson, A.J.
- Gebruk, A.
- Fujii, T.
- Solan, M.
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| Abstract |
Holothuroidea represent the dominant benthic megafauna in hadal trenches (~6,000–11,000 m), but little is known about their behaviour and functional role at such depths. Using a time-lapse camera at 8,074 m in the Peru–Chile Trench (SE Pacific Ocean), we provide the first in situ observations of locomotory activity for the elasipodid holothurian Elpidia atakama Belyaev in Shirshov Inst Oceanol 92:326–367, (1971). Time-lapse sequences reveal ‘run and mill’ behaviour whereby bouts of feeding activity are interspersed by periods of locomotion. Over the total observation period (20 h 25 min), we observed a mean (±SD) locomotion speed of 7.0 ± 5.7 BL h-1, but this increased to 10.9 ± 7.2 BL h-1 during active relocation and reduced to 4.8 ± 2.9 BL h-1 during feeding. These observations show E. atakama translocates and processes sediment at rates comparable to shallower species despite extreme hydrostatic pressure and remoteness from surface-derived food. |
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