Distribution of the Lamellibrachia spp. (Siboglinidae, Annelida) and their trophosome endosymbiont phylotypes in the Mediterranean Sea

Maxim Rubin-Blum*, Rami Tsadok, Eli Shemesh, Beverly N. Goodman-Tchernov, James A. Austin, Dwight F. Coleman, Zvi Ben-Avraham, David F. Gruber, Dan Tchernov

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

During the 2010/2011 Exploration vessel Nautilus expedition to the Mediterranean Sea, samples of Lamellibrachia (Siboglinidae, Annelida) were imaged in situ and collected from hydrothermal vent and methane "cold seeps." An analysis of these Lamellibrachia and their endosymbiotic thioautotrophic gammaproteobacteria reveals two distinct endosymbiont phylotypes. Phylotype 1 was present in Lamellibrachia specimens from 947 m at the Eratosthenes seamount seep (a seep off Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean), and Phylotype 2 was found in siboglinids from 618 m at a hydrothermal vent within Palinuro volcanic complex in Tyrrhenian Sea. Both phylotypes coexist in siboglinids at 1,036 m from the Palmachim disturbance, a cold seep in the Eastern Mediterranean's Levantine basin. Our results, combined with existing knowledge of siboglinid host and endosymbiotic bacteria biogeography, reveal that two major groups of endosymbionts coexist within lamellibranchids and escarpids. The phylogenetic clustering of these bacteria is primarily influenced by geographic location, rather than selection by the siboglinid host.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1229-1239
Number of pages11
JournalMarine Biology
Volume161
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2014

Funding

FundersFunder number
Seventh Framework Programme227799

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