A Survey of the Deep Bank Marine Macroalgae and Macrocrustaceans in the Gulf of Mexico

墨西哥湾是世界上最独特和最具生产力的海洋盆地之一，其特点是相对较浅但发育良好的大陆架，以及广泛的近海硬滩系统，这是美国水域中采样最少的栖息地之一。这些独特的硬滩，在大多数情况下位于石油和天然气集约化生产和运输区域或附近，或在某些情况下靠近不断扩大的人为富营养化区域，孕育着各种底栖生物组合，包括大量未描述的物种。这个项目的目标，将由博士主持。路易斯安那大学拉斐特分校的Fredericq和Felder与美国和墨西哥的合作者合作，开展了一个为期三年的密集项目，对东北湾（佛罗里达中地附近）、东南湾（干托图加斯附近）和西南湾（墨西哥尤卡坦半岛附近）45-90米深的深滩上的大型藻类和大型甲壳类动物进行取样。该项目的数据将与现有的西北海湾收集的信息相结合，建立全面的生物多样性清单，以及对预期的众多新物种的描述，同时增加对这些主要生物组合的地方性和分布范围的了解。所有的海藻，以及螃蟹、虾、龙虾、螳螂虾和相关的甲壳类动物将使用形态学和分子证据进行鉴定。该项目将从新的和现有的标本收集中产生一个标本数据库，该数据库将可在网上访问，并将包括分类、加入和生活史数据，以及插图、照片、清单、新物种描述、有问题群体的识别关键、可用DNA提取的来源和相关DNA序列的参考资料。由于缺乏记录的多样性，并且由于大多数硬滩在保护和管理计划中很少受到重视，否则可能会保护它们免受石油和天然气生产的负面影响或邻近区域人为富营养化的影响，因此该项目为将来的研究和学生在分类学、系统发育学、种群遗传学、墨西哥湾优势种群的生态学和保护。

The Gulf of Mexico constitutes one of the world's most unique and productive ocean basins, characterized by a relatively shallow but well-developed continental shelf with an extensive system of offshore hard banks which are among the least sampled habitats in US waters. These unique hard banks, in most cases located in or adjacent to areas of intensive oil and gas production and transportation or in some cases near expanding areas of anthropogenic eutrophication, harbor diverse benthic assemblages including large numbers of undescribed species. The goal of this project, to be conducted by Drs. Fredericq and Felder at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in conjunction with a network of US and Mexican collaborators, is an intensive three year program to sample macroalgae and macrocrustaceans from 45-90 m depths on deep banks in the NE Gulf (vicinity of the Florida Middle Ground), SE Gulf (vicinity of the Dry Tortugas) and SW Gulf (off Yucatan, Mexico). Data from this project will be combined with information from available NW Gulf collections to establish comprehensive biodiversity inventories as well as descriptions of anticipated numerous new species, while increasing knowledge of endemism and distribution ranges of these dominant biotic assemblages. All seaweeds, as well as crabs, shrimp, lobsters, mantis shrimp, and related crustaceans will be identified using morphological and molecular evidence. The project produces a specimen database from new and existing collections that will be web-accessible and will include taxonomic, accession and life history data along with illustrations, photographs, checklists, new species descriptions, identification keys to problematic groups, sources of available DNA extracts and references to relevant DNA sequences. In the absence of documented diversity, and because most hard banks are afforded little attention in conservation and management plans that might otherwise protect them from negative impacts of oil and gas production or impacts from adjacent areas of regional anthropogenic eutrophication, the project provides resources essential to future research and educational training of students in taxonomy, phylogenetics, population genetics, ecology and conservation of the dominant groups in the Gulf of Mexico.