Demographic analyses further revealed how the limpets' migration events have contributed to the formation of these four genetic groups. With the application of population genomics analyses, the team for the first time unveiled four distinct habitat-linked genetic groups of deep-sea limpets in the Northwest Pacific - one in vent and three in seep ecosystems.
QIU Jianwen, Professor of HKBU's Department of Biology, has collaborated with marine scientists from Ocean University of China and Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) to study the demographic history, genetic structure, and population connectivity of a deep-sea limpet widely distributed in vent and seep ecosystems in the Northwest Pacific. QIAN Peiyuan, Head and Chair Professor of HKUST's Department of Ocean Science and Prof. Nonetheless, a number of species have been found thriving in both habitats, raising intriguing questions on how their populations achieve connectivity between widely separated habitats and whether differences in habitat types facilitate intraspecific divergence. Neighboring vent fields and seep areas are usually separated by tens to hundreds of kilometers.
Distributed in tectonically active areas and along continental margins, these ecosystems form "life oasis" in the deep ocean and harbor a diverse amount of creatures. Unlike shallow-water ecosystems that are mainly driven by photosynthesis, deep-sea vent and seep ecosystems - characterized by darkness, high pressure, and often high concentrations of toxic substances - are primarily supported by chemosynthesis. The discoveries of deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the late 1970s and hydrocarbon seeps in the early 1980s have significantly changed our understanding of how life has evolved on Earth.
0 kommentar(er)
