Publication Date

8-1-2023

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Science Advances

Volume

9

Issue

34

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.adg3247

Abstract

Does warmth from hydrothermal springs play a vital role in the biology and ecology of abyssal animals? Deep off central California, thousands of octopus (Muusoctopus robustus) migrate through cold dark waters to hydrothermal springs near an extinct volcano to mate, nest, and die, forming the largest known aggregation of octopus on Earth. Warmth from the springs plays a key role by raising metabolic rates, speeding embryonic development, and presumably increasing reproductive success; we show that brood times for females are ∼1.8 years, far faster than expected for abyssal octopods. Using a high-resolution subsea mapping system, we created landscapescale maps and image mosaics that reveal 6000 octopus in a 2.5-ha area. Because octopuses die after reproducing, hydrothermal springs indirectly provide a food supplement to the local energy budget. Although localized deep-sea heat sources may be essential to octopuses and otherwarm-tolerant species, most of these unique and often cryptic habitats remain undiscovered and unexplored.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Moss Landing Marine Laboratories

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