Evidence of Spatial Stability in Core Fauna Community Structure of Holopelagic Sargassum

Authors

Dayna S. Hunn, Nova Southeastern University; Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation CommissionFollow
Christopher Blanar, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
David W. Kerstetter, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow

ORCID

0000-0002-4900-3099, 0000-0002-4440-8767

ResearcherID

I-5396-2012

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Caribbean Journal of Science

ISSN

0008-6452

Publication Date

9-26-2022

Abstract

As Sargassum biomass continues to increase globally, it is critical to develop a better understanding of how it functions as habitat, therefore, community structure of Sargassum-associated organisms was examined from 11 sampling locations spanning the tropical Florida Straits to the more temperate Gulf Stream off the coast of Savannah, Georgia from May to September 2018 using a combination of modified shrimp trawls and dip nets. A total of 5413 organisms were collected from Sargassum habitat representing 14 species from 10 families. A core group of organisms (Platynereis dumerilii, Litiopa melanostoma, Portunus sayi, Portunus spinimanus, Leander tenuicornis, and Latreutes fucorum) were found throughout the entirety of the geographic range surveyed. This core community did not vary significantly with increasing distance to shore or latitude, nor did it correlate with environmental variables such as salinity and temperature. However, community structure did vary with clump size, with larger clumps harboring more speciose communities. The Sargassum community in the Florida Straits and Gulf Stream appear to provide habitat for a consistent group of epifaunal organisms. In turn, this stable group offers a consistent prey source for a variety of important, higher trophic level organisms.

DOI

10.18475/cjos.v52i2.a4

Volume

52

Issue

2

First Page

177

Last Page

184

Comments

OCEARCH, Captain Chris Fischer, and Robert Hueter provided logistical support for the field sampling aboard the M/V OCEARCH. Emily Hoeflich assisted with field collections. Vessel time was donated by the M/V American Dream, the S/F Selkie, and the S/F Saline Solution.

NSUWorks Citation

Dayna S. Hunn, Christopher Blanar, and David W. Kerstetter. 2022. Evidence of Spatial Stability in Core Fauna Community Structure of Holopelagic Sargassum .Caribbean Journal of Science , (2) : 177 -184. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/1271.