Hidden biodiversity in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean: brittle stars from the Mar 2 del Plata Submarine Canyon, Argentina
Palabras clave:
Ophiuroidea, deep sea, South Atlantic, submarine canyonsResumen
Among the phylum Echinodermata, the class Ophiuroidea is the most diverse, with brittle stars being widely distributed across benthic environments worldwide. However, this trend is not consistently observed in the Southwestern Atlantic, where other echinoderm classes are reported to be more prevalent. The apparent low biodiversity may be due to insufficient studies and sampling in the deep sea, particularly in small and localized environments like submarine canyons. These geomorphic features of the continental margins are known to support unique marine communities and high biodiversity, as shown by oceanographic expeditions to the Continental Shelf of Argentina on the research vessel Puerto Deseado (CONICET) over ten years ago. These explorations significantly expanded our knowledge of benthic fauna diversity in the Southwest Atlantic. Subsequent studies have reported new fauna records and species, revealing a complex and largely uncharacterized environment, especially regarding brittle stars, a topic still pending thorough study in this area. The present study aims to enhance our understanding of ophiuroid species richness in this deep-sea environment, providing essential data for generalization and biogeographic studies globally. The study area includes the Argentine Continental Slope and the Mar del Plata Submarine Canyon in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean. We examined samples from 64 stations at depths ranging from 200 to 3,447 meters. Ophiuroids were found in 81% of the surveys, with approximately 6,000 specimens collected. The study area reveals a potential richness of 56 ophiuroid species, including 32 validly recognized species (16 new records for the Argentine Sea) and 24 unidentified or partially identified species. These data more than doubles the known ophiuroid species in the region, highlighting that deep-sea environments are key biodiversity hotspots and could contain significant biodiversity in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean.
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