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Stable isotope signatures and distribution of deepwater sponges in Lake Baikal

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Abstract

To better understand the species composition and nutrition of deepwater sponges in Lake Baikal, we determined the depth, habitat, and stable isotopic signatures for deepwater sponges. All sponge specimens except one were collected at depths below the photic zone and in a variety of benthic habitats including methane seeps and hydrothermal vents. The freshwater sponge species of Lake Baikal generally occurred in aggregations (fields, carpets, and belts), and mainly on hard substrates (different types of bedrock and argillite, and bitumen). New maximum depth records were established for three species. The deepwater sponges clustered into two groups, based on their isotopic values, with members of one group assimilating organic carbon from photosynthetic sources and exhibiting δ13C values (−32 to −26.9‰) similar to those reported previously for littoral sponges. Members of the second group, distinguished by highly depleted δ13C values (−65 to −37.3‰), participate in a chemosynthetic food web. δ15N values of the deepwater sponges ranged widely (2.1–16.7‰) suggesting that they assimilate nitrogen from environmental sources and possibly from their microbial symbionts. Conservation of deepwater sponge diversity is therefore, likely dependent on the diversity of resources found in different habitats.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Lake Baikal Protection Fund and the METROPOL Group of Companies (field research); the praesidium of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, program No. 23.8, State Project No, VIII.76.1.7 (0345–2014–0009) (Limnological Institute SB RAS); and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project Nos. 09-04-00781 and 14-44-04126. The authors are grateful to the crews of the remote vehicles “G.Yu. Vereshchagin” (Captain: A.G. Palvich) and “V.A. Koptyug” (Captain: A.N. Bityutskii), the pilots of the Mir-1 and Mir-2 submersibles, different investigators who helped with sponge collection, and Drs. M. Sakirko and S. Chernitsyna who processed material on the ship. Language support of the first version was provided by Oxford Science Editing Ltd.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Limnological Institute SD RAS, 3, Ulan-Batorskaya St., Irkutsk, Russia, 664033

    Tatiana Sitnikova, Natalia Bukshuk, Tamara Zemskaya & Oleg Khlystov

  2. A. V. Zhirmunsky Institute of Marine Biology FEB RAS, Vladivostok, Russia, 690041

    Serguei Kiyashko

  3. Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, 02481-8203, USA

    Marianne V. Moore

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  1. Tatiana Sitnikova
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  2. Serguei Kiyashko
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  3. Natalia Bukshuk
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  5. Oleg Khlystov
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Correspondence to Tatiana Sitnikova.

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This article was updated on April 20, 2016.

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Sitnikova, T., Kiyashko, S., Bukshuk, N. et al. Stable isotope signatures and distribution of deepwater sponges in Lake Baikal. Hydrobiologia 773, 11–22 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-016-2674-1

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