CEAMARC Expedition on board the Aurora Australis : from sampling to Marines Protected AreasC. Ozouf-Costaz*, N. Améziane**, M. Eléaume**; R. Beaman***, G. Hosie****, G. Lecointre*, M. Riddle****

*UMR 7138"Systématique, Adapatation, Evolution", Département "Systématqiue et Evolution", Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CP39, 57 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris,France;**UMR 7208"Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques", département"Milieux et Peuplements Aquatiques", Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CP26, 57 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris,France;***School of Earth and Environmental Science, James Cook university, Cairns, Queensland 4870, Australia****Australian Antarctic Division, Kingston, Tasmania 7050, Australia.

The Census for Antarctic Marine Life (CAML) aimed to investigate the distribution and abundance of Antarctic marine biodiversity and how it will be affected by climate change. It was a major ship-based research programme in the austral summer of 2007-2008 involving scientists from 30 countries and 19 vessels. The Collaborative East Antarctic MARine Census (CEAMARC, IPY Project n° 53) was a multinational contribution to CAML involving scientists and students from several nations using three ships from Australia (R.V. Aurora Australis), Japan (R.V. Umitaka Maru) and France (R.V. Astrolabe) surveying the same area. This collaboration was a highly coordinated and comprehensive survey of the continental shelf, from the surface to the bottom. On board the Aurora Australis, fish, benthos, oceanography and geophy-sical conditions of the waters north of Terre Adélie and George V Land were more specifically studied. Here we focus on nearbottom dwelling fish and benthos biodiversity.

Nearbottom dwelling fish and benthic fauna were sampled at 67 sites using a beam trawl at depths ranging from 150 to 2.065 m. Underwater video and still-imagery tools were used for recording seabed mega-benthos and habitats characteristics. 22 video transects could be ob-tained.3630 samples were collected, all of them were labelled and fixed in ethanol (benthic organisms) or formalin (fish and ascidians). Most of this material was sent from Hobart (Australia) to the Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris (MNHN), where it was sorted again to obtain a more accurate separation of each group).

Hobart

Dumont d'Urville Maquarie Island

"Aurora Australis"

Nov 28

Dec 29

Jan 29

Jan 22

white circle= stations

One assistant working full-time for one year has resor-ted the material into 5656 batches, not including fish and cephalopods. This assis-tant was helped by MNHN scientific specialists for some of these groups, and by invi-ted scientists from other French institutions or other countries for other groups.

At the zoothequeMNHN (Paris)

After capture into the MNHN data-base, these samples were pro-gressively sent to specialists in museums and institutions all over the world. These data are being shared through the marine Biodi-versity Network of the Scientific Committe on Antarctic Reserach (SCAR-MarBIN)

View of one database formula

Specialist network

678556563630Total

5964Not determined

998 (72): C. Ozouf-Costaz, G. Duhamel, S. Iglesias(France); J. Eastman (USA)All sorted on board975Teleosts

In progress: S. Iglesias (France)44Chondrichtyans

271(33): F. Monniot (France)9689Ascidians

?40Hemichordata

2709 (156): C. Mah (USA); M. O’Louglhin, N. Davey, T. O’Hara (Australia); V. Smirnoff (Russia); N. Améziane, M. Eléaume, B. David, T. Saucède (France); C. De Rider (Belgium)

2042839Echinodermata

In progress: H. Baird (Australia); C. Held, C. Schubart(Germany)502327Crustacea

In progress (87): C. Arago (Australia)360128Pygnogonids

?54Cephalorhyncha

In progress (67): P. Kuklinski (Poland); D. Barnes (UK)13484Broyzoa

In progress: S. Schiaparelli (Italy); K. Linse (UK); P. Lozouet (France)585421Mollusc

18 (4), M. Kedra (USA)1919Sipuncula

In progress: F. Denis, S. Houdez (France)185162Annelida

?3027Nemertina

?54Platyhelminths

In progress: M. Taylor (UK); F.Scott, A. Collins, E. Pante, M. Dawson, C. McFadden (USA); T. Moldova (Russia)376262Cnidaria

?21Ctenophora

In progress: P. Cardenas (Sweden); D. Janussen(Germany)625176Porifera

142 (4): D. Gaspard (France)1005Brachiopoda

Nb of batches after taxonomy work(number) = number of species up to now

Nb of batches afterre-sorting at MNHN

Nb of batcheson board

Taxa

678556563630Total

5964Not determined

998 (72): C. Ozouf-Costaz, G. Duhamel, S. Iglesias(France); J. Eastman (USA)All sorted on board975Teleosts

In progress: S. Iglesias (France)44Chondrichtyans

271(33): F. Monniot (France)9689Ascidians

?40Hemichordata

2709 (156): C. Mah (USA); M. O’Louglhin, N. Davey, T. O’Hara (Australia); V. Smirnoff (Russia); N. Améziane, M. Eléaume, B. David, T. Saucède (France); C. De Rider (Belgium)

2042839Echinodermata

In progress: H. Baird (Australia); C. Held, C. Schubart(Germany)502327Crustacea

In progress (87): C. Arago (Australia)360128Pygnogonids

?54Cephalorhyncha

In progress (67): P. Kuklinski (Poland); D. Barnes (UK)13484Broyzoa

In progress: S. Schiaparelli (Italy); K. Linse (UK); P. Lozouet (France)585421Mollusc

18 (4), M. Kedra (USA)1919Sipuncula

In progress: F. Denis, S. Houdez (France)185162Annelida

?3027Nemertina

?54Platyhelminths

In progress: M. Taylor (UK); F.Scott, A. Collins, E. Pante, M. Dawson, C. McFadden (USA); T. Moldova (Russia)376262Cnidaria

?21Ctenophora

In progress: P. Cardenas (Sweden); D. Janussen(Germany)625176Porifera

142 (4): D. Gaspard (France)1005Brachiopoda

Nb of batches after taxonomy work(number) = number of species up to now

Nb of batches afterre-sorting at MNHN

Nb of batcheson board

Taxa

This sampling strategy, followed by the sorting of organisms on board and later at the MNHN have produced a significant increase in the number of species known from this area. More than 423 species divided into 35 classes have been identified to date; several are new or very rare species, especially in deep water. The exploration of the benthic fauna diversity in the area is far from being complete. The taxonomic work on major groups like sponges, annelids, crustaceans and molluscs is still in progress, or just beginning. For the major cnidarian groups, the taxonomic work is on a standby status, except for four species.

Before CEAMARC, only 21 teleost fish species had been recorded in this sector, which now incorporates 67 species including some very rare liparids and a new zoarcid species (Barbapellis pterygalces). To-gether with the data obtained by the Umitaka Maru in the pelagic zone, 91 teleost fish species are now re-corded for this part of the East Antarctic sector.

The COI sequences generated from CEAMARC material provide a sizeable proportion of the Census of Antarctic Marine Life barcodes . The studies are still ongoing, and represent the only source of sequences for a number of spe-cies (Dettaï et al., Polar Science 5, 2011). All organisms that have been DNA-sequenced significantly enrich the BOLD database.http://www.boldsystems.org/views/login.php

Knowledge of the composition and community structure of the benthos is es-sential to help explain the distribution of bottom- and nearbottom- dwelling fish, and the potential impact of commercial trawling.Two parts of the investi-gated sector, which was practically unexplored before CEAMARC, have been declared Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems by CCAMLR (Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources). Therefore all the data collected will be used in the delimitation of the East Antarctic Marine Protec-ted Area.

Up to now, 50 papers have been published from the data collected by the three CEAMARC research vessels, including systematics and phylogeny (morphology, anatomy, barcoding), ecology, oceanography, phylogeography and biogeography, both for pelagic and benthic fauna.

Barbapellis pteryglacesIglesias et al., 2012, Polar Biol., 35.

Benthic communaities of the 2 VMEs

We thanks the crew and participants of the CEAMARC cruise on board the Aurora Australis. This work was supported by the ANR (white project ANT-FLOCKs USAR n°07-BLAN-0213-01).