title: Baseline Assessment of Mesophotic Reefs of the Vitória-Trindade Seamount Chain Based on Water Quality, Microbial Diversity, Benthic Cover and Fish Biomass Data.
abstract: Seamounts are considered important sources of biodiversity and minerals. However, their biodiversity and health status are not well understood; therefore, potential conservation problems are unknown. The mesophotic reefs of the Vitória-Trindade Seamount Chain (VTC) were investigated via benthic community and fish surveys, metagenomic and water chemistry analyses, and water microbial abundance estimations. The VTC is a mosaic of reef systems and includes fleshy algae dominated rhodolith beds, crustose coralline algae (CCA) reefs, and turf algae dominated rocky reefs of varying health levels. Macro-carnivores and larger fish presented higher biomass at the CCA reefs (4.4 kg per frame) than in the rhodolith beds and rocky reefs (0.0 to 0.1 kg per frame). A larger number of metagenomic sequences identified as primary producers (e.g., Chlorophyta and Streptophyta) were found at the CCA reefs. However, the rocky reefs contained more diseased corals (>90%) than the CCA reefs (~40%) and rhodolith beds (~10%). Metagenomic analyses indicated a heterotrophic and fast-growing microbiome in rocky reef corals that may possibly lead to unhealthy conditions possibly enhanced by environmental features (e.g. light stress and high loads of labile dissolved organic carbon). VTC mounts represent important hotspots of biodiversity that deserve further conservation actions.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology and SAGE-COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Pedro M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Meirelles
authors.affiliation: Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden Research Institute (IP-JBRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gilberto M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Amado-Filho
authors.affiliation: Institute of Marine Sciences, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), Santos, Brazil.
authors.forename: Guilherme H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Pereira-Filho
authors.affiliation: Department of Ichthyology, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, United States of America; Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, CA, United States of America; Department of Oceanography and Ecology, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil; Associação Ambiental Voz da Natureza, Av Cel. Schwab Filho 104/501, Vitória, Espírito Santo 29050-780, Brazil.
authors.forename: Hudson T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Pinheiro
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology and SAGE-COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rodrigo L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: de Moura
authors.affiliation: Department of Oceanography and Ecology, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Jean-Christophe
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Joyeux
authors.affiliation: Department of Oceanography and Ecology, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil; Associação Ambiental Voz da Natureza, Av Cel. Schwab Filho 104/501, Vitória, Espírito Santo 29050-780, Brazil.
authors.forename: Eric F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Mazzei
authors.affiliation: Department of Oceanography and Ecology, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alex C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Bastos
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology and SAGE-COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology and SAGE-COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dinsdale
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology and SAGE-COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rodolfo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Paranhos
authors.affiliation: Division of Metrology Applied to Life Science (DIMAV), National Institute of Technology, Quality and Metrology (INMETRO), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Eidy O
authors.initials: EO
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Genomic Research on Pathogenic Bacteria, International Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Suita, Japan.
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iida
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection Metagenomics, Genome Information Research Center, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Suita, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gotoh
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection Metagenomics, Genome Information Research Center, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Suita, Japan.
authors.forename: Shota
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology, Faculty of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University, 3-1-1 Minato-cho, Hakodate 041, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sawabe
authors.affiliation: Environmental Sciences Laboratory (LCA), Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense (UENF), Campos dos Goytacazes, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carlos E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Rezende
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory for Scientific Computing (LNCC), Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luiz M R
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Gadelha
authors.affiliation: Department of Environment and Engineering, Federal University of Paraíba, Rio Tinto, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ronaldo B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Francini-Filho
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology and SAGE-COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cristiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology and SAGE-COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fabiano L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D044822:Biodiversity; D018533:Biomass; D001938:Brazil; D057894:Coral Reefs; D017753:Ecosystem; D005399:Fishes; D056186:Metagenomics; D014871:Water Microbiology; D060753:Water Quality