Crustaceans of whalebones implanted on the deep South Atlantic

• Grant number: 15/03621-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2015
• End date: December 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Oceanography - Biological Oceanography
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Yukio Gomes Sumida
• Grantee: Olívia Soares Pereira
• Host Institution: Instituto Oceanográfico (IO). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project aims to describe the associations of crustaceans on whalebones implanted for 22 months in three latitudes on the South Atlantic at 1500 and 3300 m deep. It's expected to find greater richness and diversity on the 1500 m samples rather than the 3300 m samples, as observed in epibenthic communities of the deep sea. The landers were already implanted and will be recovered on April/May 2015 aboard N. Oc. Alpha Crucis, a ship owned by Oceanography Institute of the University of São Paulo during the third cruise of the Project BioSuOr, FAPESP (2011/50185-1). The epifauna will be separated and kept in alcohol to be analyzed ashore. The organisms will be identified in taxonomic groups for richness, diversity, and abundance analysis. Then, a more specific analysis will be done of size and maturity with the individuals of the most abundant species.