Stable Isotope Compositions of tubeworms, mussels, and their associated fauna in Gulf of Mexico hydrocarbon seeps
Becker E, Benson A (2016). Stable Isotope Compositions of tubeworms, mussels, and their associated fauna in Gulf of Mexico hydrocarbon seeps. United States Geological Survey. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/gijg2d accessed via GBIF.org on 2020-06-16. accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-02-02.
We analyzed tissue δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S of animals associated with hydrocarbon seeps on the lower continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico. We made discrete collections of fauna associated with four dominant chemosymbiotic seep fauna: vestimentiferan tubeworms, bathymodiolin mussels, vesicomyid clams, and Sclerolinum sp. (another siboglinid worm related to vestimentiferans). These collections were conducted in 2006 and 2007 using the manned submersible Alvin and the remotely operated vehicle Jason II, both operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. The purpose of this study was to use stable isotopes to explore potential nutritional sources and trophic interactions in these seep communities, especially those occurring at over 1000 m depth, which had previously been poorly studied.
marine, harvest by iOBIS
Seep sites along the continental slope of the Northern Gulf of Mexico from approximately 225 km south of Texas, USA, near the Texas–Louisiana border to south of Alabama. Study sites range in depth from 970 to 2800 m.
Erin Becker
position: Graduate Student
Abigail Benson
position: Biologist
email: albenson@usgs.gov
Charles Fisher
208 Mueller Lab, Pennsylvania State University