bingme
Ribbon worm
Found this abstract in the current issue (3.31.09) of PNAS while searching for other arcane scientific stuff at work. Thought I would let the group know.
http://www.pnas.org/content/106/13/5204
Extreme longevity in proteinaceous deep-sea corals
E. Brendan Roarka,1,2, Thomas P. Guildersonb,c, Robert B. Dunbara, Stewart J. Fallonb,3 and David A. Mucciaronea
+Author Affiliations
aEnvironmental Earth Systems Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305;
bCenter for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, LLNL, L-397 7000 East Avenue, Livermore CA 94551; and
cDepartment of Ocean Sciences and Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz CA 95064
Edited by Edward A. Boyle, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, and approved February 10, 2009 (received for review October 29, 2008)
Abstract
Deep-sea corals are found on hard substrates on seamounts and continental margins worldwide at depths of 300 to ≈3,000 m. Deep-sea coral communities are hotspots of deep ocean biomass and biodiversity, providing critical habitat for fish and invertebrates. Newly applied radiocarbon age dates from the deep water proteinaceous corals Gerardia sp. and Leiopathes sp. show that radial growth rates are as low as 4 to 35 μm year−1 and that individual colony longevities are on the order of thousands of years. The longest-lived Gerardia sp. and Leiopathes sp. specimens were 2,742 years and 4,265 years, respectively. The management and conservation of deep-sea coral communities is challenged by their commercial harvest for the jewelry trade and damage caused by deep-water fishing practices. In light of their unusual longevity, a better understanding of deep-sea coral ecology and their interrelationships with associated benthic communities is needed to inform coherent international conservation strategies for these important deep-sea habitat-forming species.
http://www.pnas.org/content/106/13/5204
Extreme longevity in proteinaceous deep-sea corals
E. Brendan Roarka,1,2, Thomas P. Guildersonb,c, Robert B. Dunbara, Stewart J. Fallonb,3 and David A. Mucciaronea
+Author Affiliations
aEnvironmental Earth Systems Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305;
bCenter for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, LLNL, L-397 7000 East Avenue, Livermore CA 94551; and
cDepartment of Ocean Sciences and Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz CA 95064
Edited by Edward A. Boyle, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, and approved February 10, 2009 (received for review October 29, 2008)
Abstract
Deep-sea corals are found on hard substrates on seamounts and continental margins worldwide at depths of 300 to ≈3,000 m. Deep-sea coral communities are hotspots of deep ocean biomass and biodiversity, providing critical habitat for fish and invertebrates. Newly applied radiocarbon age dates from the deep water proteinaceous corals Gerardia sp. and Leiopathes sp. show that radial growth rates are as low as 4 to 35 μm year−1 and that individual colony longevities are on the order of thousands of years. The longest-lived Gerardia sp. and Leiopathes sp. specimens were 2,742 years and 4,265 years, respectively. The management and conservation of deep-sea coral communities is challenged by their commercial harvest for the jewelry trade and damage caused by deep-water fishing practices. In light of their unusual longevity, a better understanding of deep-sea coral ecology and their interrelationships with associated benthic communities is needed to inform coherent international conservation strategies for these important deep-sea habitat-forming species.