Discovery of a chemosynthetic community at a serpentinite-hosted seep on Quaker Seamount, Mariana Forearc
Chen, C.; Watanabe, H.K.; Castel, J.; Jollivet, D.; Lallier, F.H.; Mathieu-Resuge, M.; Michel, L.N.; Motomura, Y.; Ono, S.; Miyazaki, J.; Takai, K. (2026). Discovery of a chemosynthetic community at a serpentinite-hosted seep on Quaker Seamount, Mariana Forearc. Mar. Biodiv. 56(3): 60. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12526-026-01670-0
In: Marine Biodiversity. Springer: Heidelberg; Berlin. ISSN 1867-1616; e-ISSN 1867-1624, meer
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| Author keywords |
Biodiversity;Chemosynthesis-based ecosystem;Chemosynthetic;Community composition;Deep sea;Hydrocarbon seep;Mud volcano;Serpentinization;Western Pacific;mud volcanism;field;phyllochaetopterus |
| Auteurs | | Top |
- Chen, C.
- Watanabe, H.K.
- Castel, J.
- Jollivet, D.
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- Lallier, F.H., meer
- Mathieu-Resuge, M.
- Michel, L.N., meer
- Motomura, Y.
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- Ono, S.
- Miyazaki, J.
- Takai, K.
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| Abstract |
Deep-sea chemosynthesis-based ecosystems in the Mariana region include hydrothermal vents on the Mariana Arc and in the Mariana Back-Arc, and serpentinite-hosted seeps on the Mariana Forearc-with the latter being by far the least studied. Here, we surveyed the biodiversity of the serpentine seep on the Quaker Seamount. At first glance, the area appears to be devoid of fauna, but examination of the carbonates revealed dense aggregations of animals dominated by the limpets in genera Bathyacmaea and Pyropelta on brucite-carbonate chimney structures exhibiting visible fluid venting. Sorting of recovered material yielded a total of 14 species and together with an observation of a Munidopsis squat lobster we report a total of 15 species; six of these are considered endemics of chemosynthetic ecosystems. The occurrence of taxa such as the snail Lurifax cf. japonicus and the limpet Pyropelta ryukyuensis, otherwise only known from distant vents in the Izu-Ogasawara Arc and Okinawa Trough off Japan, strengthens the hypothesis that serpentine seeps may function as dispersal stepping-stones across arc and back-arc systems. |
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