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

墨西哥湾构成了世界上最独特和最多产的海洋盆地之一，其特点是相对较浅但发达的大陆架，以及广泛的近海硬岸系统，是美国水域采样最少的栖息地之一。这些独特的硬质河岸在大多数情况下位于石油和天然气生产和运输密集地区或邻近地区，或在某些情况下靠近不断扩大的人为富营养化地区，拥有多样化的底栖生物组合，包括大量未描述的物种。该项目由路易斯安那大学拉斐特分校的Fredericq博士和Feld博士与美国和墨西哥的合作者网络共同实施，目标是在东北海湾(佛罗里达中部附近)、东南部海湾(干燥的托尔图加斯附近)和西南部海湾(墨西哥尤卡坦附近)的深滩上，从45-90米深的海底采集大型藻类和大型甲壳类动物的样本，为期三年。该项目的数据将与墨西哥湾西北部现有收集的信息相结合，以建立全面的生物多样性清单以及对预期的许多新物种的描述，同时增加对这些主要生物组合的特有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都将使用形态和分子证据进行鉴定。该项目从新的和现有的收集中产生一个标本数据库，将可在网上查阅，其中将包括分类、加入和生活史数据，以及插图、照片、核对表、新物种描述、问题群体的识别钥匙、可用DNA提取物的来源和相关DNA序列的参考。在缺乏记载的多样性的情况下，而且由于大多数硬质海岸在养护和管理计划中几乎没有受到关注，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区域人为富营养化邻近地区的影响，因此该项目为今后对学生进行分类学、系统发生学、种群遗传学、生态学和墨西哥湾优势群体保护方面的研究和教育培训提供了必要的资源。

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.