Marine Institute
SeaRover Dive Video

D663 Transect 49 Rippled sand/muddy/pebble slope with dominant Syringammina fragilissima on soft-bottom and a few lamellate sponges on hard-substrata. P1. Water depth: 2270m. Feature: Slope

Highlights: Lamellate sponges on boulder Red shrimp

Of note: Xenophyophores.

The seafloor at the base of this gentle slope is mixed sediment with some pebbles and cobbles. Erosion marks on the seafloor indicate movement of cobbles. Very little conspicuous fauna, but some small crinoids and the occasional Lepidion eques are present. Numerous tetrapod shells observed over this area and xenophyophores are abundant throughout.

START VIDEO [00:00:00]/16:34. Rippled sand/muddy/pebble slope with frequent Syringammina fragilissima on soft-bottom and a few lamellate sponges on hard-substrata. [1] ROV stops for sampling two pushcores. Here muddy with gravel/pebbles/pteropod shells. [00:31:00] [2] From here, the sediment becomes rippled and sandy with small/medium size pebbles and some small cobbles. Foraminifera dominate on sand and occasionally lamellate sponges are encountered on rock substrata. [00:47:00] Rippled sand/silt/mud with gravel and pebbles with few epifauna. [00:47:00] Glass jar. The rest of the dive is dominated by Foraminifera with sparse epifauna on pebbles/cobbles on muddy/rippled sand/pebbles slope. END VIDEO [01:13:00]/17:49.

Progression Start Duration Code Name
1[00:00:00]00:31:47M.AtUA.MuAtlantic upper abyssal mud
2[00:31:48]00:44:11M.AtUA.SaAtlantic upper abyssal sand

Foraminifera
Syringammina fragilissima : 261 : F
Porifera
Pheronema carpenteri : 347 : R
cf. Phakellia ventilabrum : 202 : R
Porifera encrusting sp. 1 (white) : 1 : O
Porifera lamellate sp. 10 : 1010 : R
Porifera massive lobose sp. 32 : 1090 : R
Cnidaria
Actiniaria sp. (large red) : 1120 : R
Actiniaria sp. 20 : 605 : R
Actinernus michaelsarsi : 554 : R
Adamsia sp. : 1066 : R
Anthomastus grandiflorus : 278 : O

Pennatula aculeata : 1046 : R
Arthropoda
Galacantha sp. : 1144 : R
Paguridae sp. : 205 : R
Caridea (indet.) : 1077 : R
Eucarida sp. : 1106 : R
Mollusca
Hypsogastropoda sp. : 621 : F
Echinodermata
Bathycrinidae sp. : 1141 : R
Ophiomusa lymani : 551 : R
Ophiuroidea sp. 1 : 26 : R
Brisingidae sp. : 274 : R
Echinus sp. : 445 : R

Echinoidea sp. 5 : 572 : R
Elpidiidae sp. : 1116 : R
Chordata
Ascidiacea sp. 2 : 20 : R
Ipnopidae sp. : 1078 : R
Coryphaenoides guentheri : 577 : R
Halosauridae sp. : 1113 : R
Notacanthiformes sp. 1 : 1012 : R
Actinopterygii sp. 3 : 930 : R

Number of species = 30

© Marine Institute, MERC Consultants, Bernard Picton 2022