Spatial patterns of continental shelf faunal community structure along the Western Antarctic Peninsula

Knowledge of continental shelf faunal biodiversity of Antarctica is patchy and as such, the ecology of this unique ecosystem is not fully understood. To this end, we deployed baited cameras at 20 locations along ~ 500 km of the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) at depths from 90 to 797 m. We identified 111 unique taxa, with mud bottom accounting for 90% of the dominant (≥ 50% cover) habitat sampled. Amphipoda comprised 41% of the total maximum number of individuals per camera deployment (MaxN) and occurred on 75% of deployments. Excluding this taxon, the highest MaxN occurred around King George/25 de Mayo Island and was driven primarily by the abundance of krill (Euphausiidae), which accounted for 36% of total average MaxN among deployments around this island. In comparison, krill comprised 22% of total average MaxN at Deception Island and only 10% along the peninsula. Taxa richness, diversity, and evenness all increased with depth and depth explained 18.2% of the variation in community structure among locations, which may be explained by decreasing ice scour with depth. We identified a number of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem taxa, including habitat-forming species of cold-water corals and sponge fields. Channichthyidae was the most common fish family, occurring on 80% of all deployments. The Antarctic jonasfish (Notolepis coatsorum) was the most frequently encountered fish taxa, occurring on 70% of all deployments and comprising 25% of total MaxN among all deployments. Nototheniidae was the most numerically abundant fish family, accounting for 36% of total MaxN and was present on 70% of the deployments. The WAP is among the fastest warming regions on Earth and mitigating the impacts of warming, along with more direct impacts such as those from fishing, is critical in providing opportunities for species to adapt to environmental change and to preserve this unique ecosystem.Fil: Friedlander, Alan M.. National Geographic Society. Pristine Seas; Estados Unidos. University of Hawaii; Estados UnidosFil: Goodell, Whitney. University of Hawaii; Estados Unidos. National Geographic Society. Pristine Seas; Estados UnidosFil: Salinas-De-León, Pelayo. Charles Darwin Foundation Santa Cruz; Ecuador. National Geographic Society. Pristine Seas; Estados UnidosFil: Ballesteros, Enric. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Centre Destudis Avancats de Blanes; EspañaFil: Berkenpas, Eric. National Geographic Society. Pristine Seas; Estados UnidosFil: Capurro, Andrea Paula. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio Interno y Culto. Dirección Nacional del Antártico. Instituto Antártico Argentino; ArgentinaFil: Cárdenas, César. Instituto Antártico Chileno; ChileFil: Hüne, Mathias. Fundación Ictiológica; Chile. Centro de Investigación Para la Conservación de Los Ecosistemas Australes; ChileFil: Lagger, Cristian Fabian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; ArgentinaFil: Landaeta, Mauricio F.. Universidad de Valparaiso; ChileFil: Muñoz, Alex. Pristine Seas, National Geographic Society; Estados UnidosFil: Santos, Mercedes. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio Interno y Culto. Dirección Nacional del Antártico. Instituto Antártico Argentino; ArgentinaFil: Turchik, Alan. National Geographic Society. Pristine Seas; Estados UnidosFil: Werner, Rodolfo. The Pew Charitable Trusts & Antarctic And Southern Ocea; Estados UnidosFil: Sala, Enric. National Geographic Society. Pristine Seas; Estados Unido

Diversity of deep-sea fishes of the Easter Island Ecoregion

The Easter Island Ecoregion is in the center of the South Pacific gyre and experiences ultra-oligotrophic conditions that could make it highly susceptible to global change and anthropogenic activities, so it is imperative that these regions are characterized and studied so that conservation and sustainable management strategies can be developed. From the few studies from the region, we know that the coastal areas are relatively depauperate and have relatively high rates of endemism. Here, we present a brief report from the first video observations from this region of the deep-dwelling fishes from ROV exploration of benthic communities from 157 to 281 m and baited drop-camera videos from 150 to 1850 m. We observed a total of 55 fish species from the ROV and Drop-Cam surveys; nine could not be assigned family level or lower, 26 were observed in the ROV surveys, 29 were observed in the Drop-Cam surveys, nine were observed with both survey methods, at least six species are potentially new to science, and nine species were observed at deeper depths than previously reported. These new reports may be indicative of the unique oceanographic conditions in the area and the relative isolation of the communities that have provided opportunity for the evolution of new species and favorable conditions for range expansion. In contrast, these new reports may be indicative of the severe undersampling in the south Pacific at mesopelagic depths. The prevalence of potentially new species suggests that the region likely harbors a wealth of undiscovered biodiversity

Investigation of Langasite Pure Shear Horizontal Surface Acoustic Wave Biosensors

Waterborne pathogens have been connected with hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome, which may be characterized by diarrhea, kidney failure, and death. There is an urgent need for sensors capable of rapidly detecting dangerous microbes in food and water supplies to limit the exposure of human and animal populations. In this work, pure shear horizontal surface acoustic wave (SH SAW) biosensors have been designed, fabricated, and tested using langasite (LGS) Euler angles (0°, 22°, 90°). The delay lines implemented and tested exhibited reduced additional loss in liquids (~6 dB) due to the nature of the SH SAW mode. Resonator devices were used to confirm the temperature compensated behavior around room temperature of the LGS SH SAW orientation, (0°, 22°, 90°). Numerical comparisons between the referred orientation and the pseudo SAW along LiTa03 (0°, -54°, 0°), indicated equivalent sensitivity to viscosity and mass. LGS SH SAW delay lines were integrated with surface immobilized proteins. Successful detection of macromolecular protein monolayers was facilitated by a biosensor test setup specially designed and implemented in this work. In addition, the LGS SH SAW platform researched was effectively integrated with an anti-E. coli biological sensing layer, and applied to the detection of E. coli 0157:H7. The resulting biosensors produced significant, selective, and highly reproducible responses to the presence of E. coli. These results indicated excellent performance of the LGS SH SAW biosensor, with potential for a future commercialized device

Preparing to launch: biologging reveals the dynamics of white shark breaching behaviour

Preparing to launch: biologging reveals the dynamics of white shark breaching behaviou