Affiliation: | (1) GEOMAR, Forschungszentrum für Marine Geowissenschaften, Universität Kiel, Wischhofstrasse 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany;(2) AG Zoosystematik und Morphologie, Carl von Ossietzky Universität, Postfach 2503, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany |
Abstract: | Rotifers, one of the smallest metazoans, are only seldom found in marine environments. Surprisingly, we discovered high abundances of at least two new species of rotifers settling in anoxic and highly sulphidic sediments associated with shallow gas hydrates (GH) at the southern crest of Hydrate Ridge off Oregon, NE Pacific, in a water depth of about 780 m. At basins adjacent to Hydrate Ridge, 1,285–2,304 m deep, we found rotifers co-occurring with the sulphide-oxidising bacteria Thioploca sp. |