Giant Larvacean Houses: Rapid Carbon Transport to the Deep Sea Floor

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2005-06, Vol.308 (5728), p.1609-1611
• Main Authors: Robison, Bruce H, Reisenbichler, Kim R, Sherlock, Rob E
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal traps; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Aquatic life; Biological and medical sciences; Carbon; Carbon - analysis; Carbon composites; Chemistry; Food; Food supply; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Housing; Invertebrates; Larvae; Less representative or incertae sedis groups: acanthocephala, chaetognatha, gnathostomulida, lophophoria, merostomata, mesozoa, myxozoa, nematorhyncha, pararthropoda, placozoa, priapuloidea, prochordata, pycnogonida, rotifera; Marine; Marine geology; Marine sediments; Ocean bottom; Ocean floor; Oceanography; Organic chemicals; Organic foods; Pacific Ocean; Sampling; Sea water ecosystems; Seasons; Seawater; Sediment transport; Sediments; Submarine geology; Synecology; Time series; Urochordata - anatomy & histology; Urochordata - physiology; Water; Zooplankton - physiology
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1109104

An unresolved issue in ocean science is the discrepancy between the food requirements of the animals living on the deep sea floor and their food supply, as measured by sediment traps. A 10-year time-series study of the water column off Monterey Bay, California, revealed that the discarded mucus feeding structures of giant larvaceans carry a substantial portion of the upper ocean's productivity to the deep seabed. These abundant, rapidly sinking, carbon-rich vectors are not detected by conventional sampling methods and thus have not been included in calculations of vertical nutrient flux or in oceanic carbon budgets.