Dancing for food in the deep sea: bacterial farming by a new species of Yeti crab.
Vent and seep animals harness chemosynthetic energy to thrive far from the sun's energy. While symbiont-derived energy fuels many taxa, vent crustaceans have remained an enigma; these shrimps, crabs, and barnacles possess a phylogenetically distinct group of chemosynthetic bacterial epibionts,...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2011-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/22140426/?tool=EBI |
| _version_ | 1818693916959965184 |
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| author | Andrew R Thurber William J Jones Kareen Schnabel |
| author_facet | Andrew R Thurber William J Jones Kareen Schnabel |
| author_sort | Andrew R Thurber |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Vent and seep animals harness chemosynthetic energy to thrive far from the sun's energy. While symbiont-derived energy fuels many taxa, vent crustaceans have remained an enigma; these shrimps, crabs, and barnacles possess a phylogenetically distinct group of chemosynthetic bacterial epibionts, yet the role of these bacteria has remained unclear. We test whether a new species of Yeti crab, which we describe as Kiwa puravida n. sp, farms the epibiotic bacteria that it grows on its chelipeds (claws), chelipeds that the crab waves in fluid escaping from a deep-sea methane seep. Lipid and isotope analyses provide evidence that epibiotic bacteria are the crab's main food source and K. puravida n. sp. has highly-modified setae (hairs) on its 3(rd) maxilliped (a mouth appendage) which it uses to harvest these bacteria. The ε- and γ- proteobacteria that this methane-seep species farms are closely related to hydrothermal-vent decapod epibionts. We hypothesize that this species waves its arm in reducing fluid to increase the productivity of its epibionts by removing boundary layers which may otherwise limit carbon fixation. The discovery of this new species, only the second within a family described in 2005, stresses how much remains undiscovered on our continental margins. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T13:21:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-973fd78297d54b56a0af1ea0d5950290 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T13:21:17Z |
| publishDate | 2011-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-973fd78297d54b56a0af1ea0d59502902022-12-21T21:46:52ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032011-01-01611e2624310.1371/journal.pone.0026243Dancing for food in the deep sea: bacterial farming by a new species of Yeti crab.Andrew R ThurberWilliam J JonesKareen SchnabelVent and seep animals harness chemosynthetic energy to thrive far from the sun's energy. While symbiont-derived energy fuels many taxa, vent crustaceans have remained an enigma; these shrimps, crabs, and barnacles possess a phylogenetically distinct group of chemosynthetic bacterial epibionts, yet the role of these bacteria has remained unclear. We test whether a new species of Yeti crab, which we describe as Kiwa puravida n. sp, farms the epibiotic bacteria that it grows on its chelipeds (claws), chelipeds that the crab waves in fluid escaping from a deep-sea methane seep. Lipid and isotope analyses provide evidence that epibiotic bacteria are the crab's main food source and K. puravida n. sp. has highly-modified setae (hairs) on its 3(rd) maxilliped (a mouth appendage) which it uses to harvest these bacteria. The ε- and γ- proteobacteria that this methane-seep species farms are closely related to hydrothermal-vent decapod epibionts. We hypothesize that this species waves its arm in reducing fluid to increase the productivity of its epibionts by removing boundary layers which may otherwise limit carbon fixation. The discovery of this new species, only the second within a family described in 2005, stresses how much remains undiscovered on our continental margins.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/22140426/?tool=EBI |
| spellingShingle | Andrew R Thurber William J Jones Kareen Schnabel Dancing for food in the deep sea: bacterial farming by a new species of Yeti crab. PLoS ONE |
| title | Dancing for food in the deep sea: bacterial farming by a new species of Yeti crab. |
| title_full | Dancing for food in the deep sea: bacterial farming by a new species of Yeti crab. |
| title_fullStr | Dancing for food in the deep sea: bacterial farming by a new species of Yeti crab. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dancing for food in the deep sea: bacterial farming by a new species of Yeti crab. |
| title_short | Dancing for food in the deep sea: bacterial farming by a new species of Yeti crab. |
| title_sort | dancing for food in the deep sea bacterial farming by a new species of yeti crab |
| url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/22140426/?tool=EBI |
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