ALBERT

Description: During RV SONNE cruise SO242/2 (September 2015) to the DISCOL site in the Peru Basin (SE Pacific), pyrosome carcasses were collected at the seafloor. Aboard, these carcasses were stored frozen and in the lab on land, they were freeze-dried and ground to fine powder. Their carbon and nitrogen content, δ13C and δ15N were measured on an elemental analyzer coupled with a isotope ratio mass spectrometer (EA-c-IRMS).

Description: During RV SONNE cruise SO242/2 (September 2015) to the DISCOL site in the Peru Basin (SE Pacific), pyrosome carcasses were collected at the seafloor. Aboard, these carcasses were stored frozen and in the lab on land, they were freeze-dried and ground to fine powder. Total fatty acid in pyrosome tissue were extracted following the Bligh and Dyer method and their isotopic compositions and concentrations were measured on a gas chromatograph coupled with an isotopic ratio mass spectrometer (EA-c-IRMS).

Description: During RV SONNE cruise SO242/2 (September 2015) to the DISCOL site in the Peru Basin (SE Pacific) push cores of sediment were taken in the abyssal plains with ROV Kiel 6000 (GEOMAR). The sediment cores were sliced in 0-2 and 2-5 cm intervals and stored frozen until further processing ashore. In the lab on land, sediment samples were freeze-dried, ground to fine powder, phospholipid-derived fatty acids (PLFAs) in the sediment were extracted following the Bligh and Dyer method and they were measured on a gas chromatograph coupled with an isotopic ratio mass spectrometer (EA-c-IRMS).

Description: During RV SONNE cruise SO242/2 (September 2015) to the DISCOL site in the Peru Basin (SE Pacific), pyrosome carcasses were at the seafloor. Aboard, these carcasses were stored frozen and in the lab on land, they were freeze-dried and ground to fine powder. Phospholipid-derived fatty acids (PLFAs) in pyrosome tissue were extracted following the Bligh and Dyer method and their isotopic compositions and concentrations were measured on a gas chromatograph coupled with an isotopic ratio mass spectrometer (EA-c-IRMS).

Description: During RV SONNE cruise SO242/2 (September 2015) to the DISCOL site in the Peru Basin (SE Pacific), pyrosome carcasses were collected at the seafloor. Aboard, these carcasses were stored frozen and in the lab on land, they were freeze-dried and ground to fine powder. Neutral lipid-derived fatty acids (NLFAs) in pyrosome tissue were extracted following the Bligh and Dyer method and their isotopic compositions and concentrations were measured on a gas chromatograph coupled with an isotopic ratio mass spectrometer (EA-c-IRMS).

Description: To investigate scavenging communities associated with carcasses of animals from the water column, we performed experimental food fall studies. We deployed baited camera landers with squid (Loligo vulgaris) and jellyfish (Periphylla periphylla) for 13-35 hours at ~2500 m depth in the Fram Strait at the deep sea Long Term Observatory HAUSGARTEN. The dataset includes all raw count data of scavengers on the food falls sorted by taxon based on image analysis annotation in BIIGLE. Scavengers included Eurythenes gryllus , Scopelocheirus and stegocephalid amphipods, various crustaceans and the gastropod Mohnia.

Description: Incirrate octopods (those without fins) are among the larger megafauna inhabiting the benthic environments of all oceans, commonly in water depths down to about 3,000 m. They are known to protect and brood their eggs until the juveniles hatch, but to date there is little published information on octopod deep-sea life cycles and distribution. For this study, three manganese-crust and nodule-abundant regions of the deep Pacific were examined by remote operated-vehicle and towed camera surveys carried out between 2011 and 2016. Here, we report that the depth range of incirrate octopods can now be extended to at least 4,290 m. Octopods (twenty-nine individuals from two distinct species) were observed on the deep Ka'ena and Necker Ridges of the Hawaiian Archipelago, and in a nodule-abundant region of the Peru Basin. Two octopods were observed to be brooding clutches of eggs that were laid on stalks of dead sponges attached to nodules at depths exceeding 4,000 m. This is the first time such a specific mineral-biota association has been observed for incirrate octopods. Both broods consisted of approximately 30 large (2.0-2.7 cm) eggs. Given the low annual water temperature of 1.5°C, it is likely that egg development, and hence brooding, takes years [Robison et al. (2014), doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0103437]. Stalked-sponge fauna in the Peru Basin require the presence of manganese nodules as a substrate, and near total collapse of such sponge populations was observed following the experimental removal of nodules within the DISCOL (DISturbance and COLonisation) area of the Peru Basin [Bluhm (2001), doi:10.1016/S0967-0645(01)00070-4]. Stalked fauna are also abundant on the hard substrates of the Hawaiian archipelago. The brooding behavior of the octopods we observed suggests that, like the sponges, they may also be susceptible to habitat loss following the removal of nodule fields and crusts by commercial exploitation.

Description: We performed quantitative assessment of the reproductive systems of deep-sea species Onykia ingens. Our goals were to: 1) quantify spermatophore production 2) determine the (preferred) location for spermatangia deposition; 3) investigate whether male and female O. ingens mate with multiple mates. Towards this end we examined male and female O. ingens specimens from Falkland Island and New Zealand waters.

Description: The data consists of analyzed biological information (predator, prey and in some cases relative size), that was visible on the analyzed video as well as video collection data (depth, date, latitude, longitude) and reference data to the video which is archived in MBARI's video lab. These observations allowed insight in the diet as well as feeding behaviour of these deep-sea squids.