Macro-Ecology of Gulf of Mexico Cold Seeps Erik E. Cordes, 1 Derk C. Bergquist, 2 and Charles R. Fisher 3 1 Biology Department, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122; email: ecordes@temple.edu 2 Marine Resources Research Institute, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Columbia, South Carolina 29201; email: BergquistD@dnr.sc.gov 3 Biology Department, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802; email: cfisher@psu.edu Annu. Rev. Mar. Sci. 2009. 1:143–68 First published online as a Review in Advance on August 28, 2008 The Annual Review of Marine Science is online at marine.annualreviews.org This article’s doi: 10.1146/annurev.marine.010908.163912 Copyright c  2009 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved 1941-1405/09/0115-0143$20.00 Key Words chemosynthesis, symbiosis, succession, siboglinidae, bathymodiolin, upper Louisiana slope Abstract Shortly after the discovery of chemosynthetic ecosystems at deep-sea hy- drothermal vents, similar ecosystems were found at cold seeps in the Gulf of Mexico. Over the past two decades, these sites have become model systems for understanding the physiology of the symbiont-containing megafauna and the ecology of seep communities worldwide. Symbiont-containing bi- valves and siboglinid polychaetes dominate the communities, including five bathymodiolin mussel species and six vestimentiferan (siboglinid polychaete) species in the Gulf of Mexico. The mussels include the first described ex- amples of methanotrophic symbiosis and dual methanotrophic/thiotrophic symbiosis. Studies with the vestimentiferans have demonstrated their po- tential for extreme longevity and their ability to use posterior structures for subsurface exchange of dissolved metabolites. Ecological investigations have demonstrated that the vestimentiferans function as ecosystem engineers and identified a community succession sequence from a specialized high-biomass endemic community to a low-biomass community of background fauna over the life of a hydrocarbon seep site. 143 Annu. Rev. Marine. Sci. 2009.1:143-168. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org by University of California - San Diego on 01/19/09. For personal use only.