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Helgol Mar Res (2015) 69:1323 DOI 10.1007/s10152-014-0413-4
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The sh fauna of Ampre Seamount (NE Atlantic) and the adjacent abyssal plain
Bernd Christiansen Rui P. Vieira
Sabine Christiansen Anneke Denda
Frederico Oliveira Jorge M. S. Gonalves
Received: 26 March 2014 / Revised: 15 September 2014 / Accepted: 24 September 2014 / Published online: 2 October 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg and AWI 2014
Abstract An inventory of benthic and benthopelagic shes is presented as a result of two exploratory surveys around Ampre Seamount, between Madeira and the Portuguese mainland, covering water depths from 60 to 4,400 m. A total of 239 shes were collected using different types of sampling gear. Three chondrichthyan species and 31 teleosts in 21 families were identied. The collections showed a vertical zonation with little overlap, but indications for an afnity of species to certain water masses were only vague. Although most of the species present new records for Ampre Seamount, all of them have been known for the NE Atlantic; endemic species were not found. The comparison with sh communities at other NE Atlantic seamounts indicates that despite a high ichthyofaunal similarity, which supports the stepping
stone hypothesis of species dispersal, some differences can be attributed to the local features of the seamounts.
Keywords Deep sea Fish distribution Ichthyofauna
Seamounts Zoogeography
Introduction
Due to their vertical range and habitat diversity, seamounts often support high sh diversity, as compared to the surrounding ocean, and some are known as hotspots of endemic species (e.g. Shank 2010; Stocks et al. 2012). Seamounts are considered to act as stepping stones for species dispersal (Almada et al. 2001;vila and Malaquias 2003; Santos et al. 1995; Shank 2010; Xavier and van Soest 2007), bridging large oceanic areas in particular for shelf and slope dwelling species. Recently, studies of seamount ecosystems have received a great deal of attention by the scientic community, due to their role as habitat providers for benthopelagic shes and important spots for great pelagics (e.g. Clark et al. 2010; Morato et al. 2010). There is an ongoing concern that seamount stocks are overshed, and shing is impairing the benthic communities (e.g. Clark 2001; 2010; Clark and Koslow 2007; Clark and Rowden 2009; Clark et al. 2006; Norse et al. 2012).
Little has been...