| Seamounts | |
An Astroschema brittle star collected from Muir Seamount. |
Seamount
biodiversity, dispersal, and endemism Shank, Cho & Waller The mechanisms of faunal dispersal across the major ocean basins are key unknowns to our understanding of the present-day biogeography of deep-sea fauna. Seamount chains, present in all ocean basins, provide stepping stone habitats that are semi-continuous and are likely to have a fundamental impact on the faunal dispersal patterns controlling regional biogeography and diversity of deep-sea fauna. Read more... |
Lost fishing gear caught on colonies of Enallopsammia rostrata and Lophelia pertusa on Manning seamount. Octocoral in the foreground. |
Molecular
Systematics and Population Connectivity of Seamount
Faunal Populations on the New England and Corner Rise Seamounts
Cho & Shank Seamounts are common geologic seafloor structures throughout the world's oceans and thought to number approximately 100,000 globally. Their unique characteristics such as hard substrata, steep gradients, interaction with currents, induced upwelling, retention of nutrients, geographic isolation, and high degree of endemism make them important parts of the ocean floor. Read more... |