South Coast Fjords 2023: Bay d’Espoir – White Bear Bay, 18th to the 26th of November 2023, RV Connor Murphy, Cruise ID: CM231118

Cruise report for the CM231118 expedition to Bay d’Espoir and White Bear Bay, NL, onboard the marine vessel Connor Murphy. This expedition (18th - 26th November 2023) funded by Fisheries and Ocean Canada under the “Coastal Environmental Baseline Program” collected baseline data to characterize the deep-water fauna of two fjords on the South Coast of the island of Newfoundland. This expedition consisted of 66 stations where scientific activities such as Van Veen grabs, drop video camera, CTD casts and multibeam surveys were conducted. All samples collected are also listed

Local ecological knowledge and multidisciplinary approach lead to discovery of hidden biodiversity in the deep ocean of Labrador, Canada

nternational commitments to preserve global biodiversity target the protection of 30% of marine habitats by 2030. The lack of even basic knowledge of many marine areas (e.g., deep oceans) combined with short timelines require integrative knowledge and multidisciplinary techniques to be used to efficiently identify areas worthy of protection. Here we outline a case study of the discovery of the Makkovik Hanging Gardens found in a deep-water trough in coastal Labrador, Canada. The area is of ecological significance because it supports high densities of vulnerable marine ecosystem indicator taxa, including the gorgonian coral Primnoa resedaeformis on portions of its vertical submarine walls. This study illustrates the exploratory process initiated by Nunatsiavut, which integrated local knowledge, scientific models, and a variety of technologies (such as remotely operated vehicles and multibeam sonar) to discover deep-water hidden biodiversity toward the advancement of both local Indigenous and global conservation goals

Bamboozled! Resolving deep evolutionary nodes within the phylogeny of bamboo corals (Octocorallia: Scleralcyonacea: Keratoisididae).

Keratoisididae is a globally distributed, and exclusively deep-sea, family of octocorals that contains species and genera that are polyphyletic. An alphanumeric system, based on a three-gene-region phylogeny, is widely used to describe the biodiversity within this family. That phylogeny identified 12 major groups although it did not have enough signal to explore the relationships among groups. Using increased phylogenomic resolution generated from Ultraconserved Elements and exons (i.e. conserved elements), we aim to resolve deeper nodes within the family and investigate the relationships among those predefined groups. In total, 109 libraries of conserved elements were generated from individuals representing both the genetic and morphological diversity of our keratoisidids. In addition, the conserved element data of 12 individuals from previous studies were included. Our taxon sampling included 11 of the 12 keratoisidid groups. We present two phylogenies, constructed from a 75% (231 loci) and 50% (1729 loci) taxon occupancy matrix respectively, using both Maximum Likelihood and Multiple Species Coalescence methods. These trees were congruent at deep nodes. As expected, S1 keratoisidids were recovered as a well-supported sister clade to the rest of the bamboo corals. S1 corals do not share the same mitochondrial gene arrangement found in other members of Keratoisididae. All other bamboo corals were recovered within two major clades. Clade I comprises individuals assigned to alphanumeric groups B1, C1, D1&D2, F1, H1, I4, and J3 while Clade II contains representatives from A1, I1, and M1. By combining genomics with already published morphological data, we provide evidence that group H1 is not monophyletic, and that the division between other groups - D1 and D2, and A1 and M1 - needs to be reconsidered. Overall, there is a lack of robust morphological markers within Keratoisididae, but subtle characters such as sclerite microstructure and ornamentation seem to be shared within groups and warrant further investigation as taxonomically diagnostic characters

Size metrics, longevity, and growth rates in Umbellula encrinus (Cnidaria: Pennatulacea) from the Eastern Canadian Arctic

Umbellula encrinus Linnaeus, 1758 is a deep-water sea pen commonly found in the Eastern Canadian Arctic. It can reach heights of >2 m, and it has often been caught as fishing bycatch. Here we characterized abundance/density, size metrics, longevity, and growth rates of U. encrinus colonies from Baffin Bay (between Greenland and Canada). No prevalent size classes were identified at most locations, except for Jones Sound and Cape Dyer, where small-size colonies dominated. Average number of growth rings in the internal skeleton (axis) of the examined colonies ranged between 2-68, with a maximum of 75. A bomb-The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Local ecological knowledge and multidisciplinary approach lead to discovery of hidden biodiversity in the deep ocean of Labrador, Canada

International commitments to preserve global biodiversity target the protection of 30% of marine habitats by 2030. The lack of even basic knowledge of many marine areas (e.g., deep oceans) combined with short timelines require integrative knowledge and multidisciplinary techniques to be used to efficiently identify areas worthy of protection. Here we outline a case study of the discovery of the Makkovik Hanging Gardens found in a deep-water trough in coastal Labrador, Canada. The area is of ecological significance because it supports high densities of vulnerable marine ecosystem indicator taxa, including the gorgonian coral Primnoa resedaeformis on portions of its vertical submarine walls. This study illustrates the exploratory process initiated by Nunatsiavut, which integrated local knowledge, scientific models, and a variety of technologies (such as remotely operated vehicles and multibeam sonar) to discover deep-water hidden biodiversity toward the advancement of both local Indigenous and global conservation goals

Complete mitochondrial genomes of the black corals Alternatipathes mirabilis Opresko & Molodtsova, 2021 and Parantipathes larix (Esper, 1788) (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Hexacorallia, Antipatharia, Schizopathidae)

We describe the complete mitogenomes of the black corals Alternatipathes mirabilis Opresko & Molodtsova, 2021 and Parantipathes larix (Esper, 1790) (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Hexacorallia, Antipatharia, Schizopathidae). The analysed specimens include the holotype of Alternatipathes mirabilis, collected from Derickson Seamount (North Pacific Ocean; Gulf of Alaska) at 4,685 m depth and a potential topotype of Parantipathes larix, collected from Secca dei Candelieri (Mediterranean Sea; Tyrrhenian Sea; Salerno Gulf; Italy) at 131 m depth. We also assemble, annotate and make available nine additional black coral mitogenomes that were included in a recent phylogeny (Quattrini et al. 2023b), but not made easily accessible on GenBank. This is the first study to present and compare two mitogenomes from the same species of black coral (Stauropathes arctica (Lütken, 1871)) and, thus, place minimum boundaries on the expected level of intraspecific variation at the mitogenome level. We also compare interspecific variation at the mitogenome-level across five different specimens of Parantipathes Brook, 1889 (representing at least two different species) from the NE Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea

Complete mitochondrial genomes of the black corals Alternatipathes mirabilis Opresko & Molodtsova, 2021 and Parantipathes larix (Esper, 1788) (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Hexacorallia, Antipatharia, Schizopathidae)

We describe the complete mitogenomes of the black corals Alternatipathes mirabilis Opresko & Molodtsova, 2021 and Parantipathes larix (Esper, 1790) (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Hexacorallia, Antipatharia, Schizopathidae). The analysed specimens include the holotype of Alternatipathes mirabilis, collected from Derickson Seamount (North Pacific Ocean; Gulf of Alaska) at 4,685 m depth and a potential topotype of Parantipathes larix, collected from Secca dei Candelieri (Mediterranean Sea; Tyrrhenian Sea; Salerno Gulf; Italy) at 131 m depth. We also assemble, annotate and make available nine additional black coral mitogenomes that were included in a recent phylogeny (Quattrini et al. 2023b), but not made easily accessible on GenBank. This is the first study to present and compare two mitogenomes from the same species of black coral (Stauropathes arctica (Lütken, 1871)) and, thus, place minimum boundaries on the expected level of intraspecific variation at the mitogenome level. We also compare interspecific variation at the mitogenome-level across five different specimens of Parantipathes Brook, 1889 (representing at least two different species) from the NE Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea