Distribution of organisms at sea bottom (both Abyssal and Hadal zones)

The sea bottom: The sea floor is an area of great contrast, from deep ocean deserts of soft sediment to
rich coral reefs. The life depends on a variety of conditions, such as substrate type, current speeds and in
particular availability of food. Even in deep water, there is generally some food available, mainly in the
form of fragments of organic matter sinking from the overlying water, and in some areas this food
supply may be sufficient to support a large population. Beneath shallow water there may also be
primary production by benthic algae and photosynthetic bacteria to depths of about 500m depending
on water clarity. Kelps (eg. Laminaria, Macrosystis), calcareous red algae (Lithophyllum) and a variety of
foliose algae grow on shallow rocks where light is sufficient. A variety of microflora of benthic diatoms
and other photosynthetic protista occur on the surface of rock, sand or mud often visible to the naked
eye as a thin brownish film.

Many bottom dwelling creatures are able to live and grow to large size with relatively little expenditure
of energy in hunting and collecting food because they can obtain adequate nourishment simply by
gathering the particles that fall within their reach or are carried to them by the currents. Others simply
digest the organic matter and associated bacteria contained within the sediments. Most of the sea
bottom is covered with soft deposits which give concealment and protection to burrowing creatures.
When the substrate is hard it provides a secure surface for the attachment of sessile forms and affords
protection for creatures which hide in crevices or burrow in rock. Compared with the pelagic division of
the marine environment the sea bottom provides a far wider variety of habitats because the nature of
the bottom differs greatly from place to place. Except in very shallow depths, the temperature, salinity,
illumination and movements of the water at the bottom are less variable than in the surface layers.
Below 500m seasonal changes in these variable are negligible and constant in deeper waters.

Benthic communities;

The term community simply refers to groups of species consistently occurring together in broadly
similar environmental conditions. Different parts of the sea floor are populated by characteristic
communities. The differences of environment accountable for the association of particular communities
with particular part of the sea bottom can be related to features of both the water and substratum.

The major hydrographic parameters which control the distribution of marine organisms are the
temperature of the water, its composition , movements, pressure and illumination. Except on the shore
and in shallow water these vary less at the bottom than they do in the upper layers of the water. They
are not only less important in relation to the distribution of benthic populations, restricting certain
species to particular localities but often having a major effect during the early stages of life when the
majority of benthic creatures pass through pelagic phases. The planktonic eggs and larvae of many
species are highly susceptible to the quality of the water in which they float, and the period prior to
completion of metamorphosis is always the time of heaviest mortality. Predation and shortage of
suitable food exert a heavy toll, and losses are specially severe if water temperature or salinity is
unfavourable.
Substrate: The substrate material exerts a dominant influence over the distribution of organisms on the
sea floor, when the bottom is rock or large stones, the community consists chiefly of forms which live on
the surface of the substrate eg. Epifauna and epiflora. The animals are mainly sessile or encrusting
cnidarians (coelenterates), sponges, bryozoans, barnacles, tubicolous worms, mussels and sea squirt.
Crawling among them are a variety of errant polychaetes, starfish, echinoids, gastropods and large
crustacean such as crabs, lobsters and craw fish. In shallow water where sufficient illumination reaches
the bottom, sea weeds grow attached on rock or to stones heavy enough to give secure anchorage, and
to each other. There is usually a wide diversity of species inhabiting a rocky bottom because the
irregularities of the rock surface provide in great variety of microhabitats, with innumerable differences
of living space, water movement, food supply, illumination and temperature. A rocky bottom dos not
support an numerous infauna i.e. animals dwelling within the substrate, but burrowing creatures occur
in accumulation of silt in rock crevices. There are also a few forms capable of boring into rock, mainly
bivalve mollusks (Hiatella, Pholas, Lithophaga), a few annelids (Polydora, Dodecaceria), the sponges
Cliona and certain barnacles and sea urchins. In some areas there are also species of red algae which
bore superficially in calcareous rock.

Where the bottom is covered with sediment, most of the inhabitants live within the deposit. Local
conditions are generally more uniform and communities less diverse than on the rocky bottom. The
infauna includes burrowing sea anemones, polychaetes, bivalves gastropods, echinoderms and
crustacean. Some fish also burrow superficially in the deposit and a few, such as the red band fish
(Cepola) make deep burrows. The particle size of sediment is an important factor regulating the
distribution of the infauna because the mode of burrowing of many creatures is specialized and suitable
only for a certain grade of substrate. Burrowing can be done by forcing or digging through th e
sediment, pushing the particle aside or eating through it or often by a combination of methods. Large
particle s are more difficult to displace or ingest than small ones. This may be one reason why these are
less populated than finer one. Some areas of very deep water animals may sink simply in soft deposits
and adopt with stalks or extremely long appendages to lift the main body clear of the bottom. The grade
of the deposit particles along with other factors such as speed of bottom current determines the feature
of the substrate and communities they live in the substrate

Slow moving water allows organic matter to settle, giving a sediment that may be not only fine in
texture but also rich in organic matter. Poor or absent circulation of the contained water leads to
deficient oxygenation of the subsurface layers and high concentrations of sulphide. Beneath shallow
water these conditions often support a large biomass because there is a good food supply for creatures
which feed on the surface or digest organic matter from the sediment, the infauna must be able to cope
up with silt and a deoxygenated medium. Where the bottom water moves more swiftly there is likely to
be less settlement of food and a low organic matter in coarser sediments, but better oxygenation of the
interstitial water, the poor food supply supports a smaller biomass but these conditions favour animals
which can burrow in coarse material and capture floating food suspended in the water . several
interrelated factors must operate to limit certain species to particular substrates.

Turbidity: Some benthic organisms are very sensitive to the turbidity of the water. The quantity of
suspended matter is often considerably greater in water close to the bottom than in layers nearer to the
surface. In shallow water this reduces illumination and may therefore restrict the distribution of benthic
plants. High turbidity may also have adverse effects on animals by clogging the feeding apparatus or
smothering the respiratory surfaces. Many benthic creatures are filter feeders. Eg. Lamellibranchs a
major part of the community in may sediments. Turbidity is also related to wave exposure and water
currents. Shallow sheltered lochs or bays are likely to have poor water clarity than more open areas.
Water movement carries settling silt away and prevents it from accumulating and smothering the
benthos.

Water current: Benthic organisms are also influenced by the speed of the bottom current because this
controls the particle size of the substrate, its oxygenation and organic content and also affects the
dispersal of pelagic larvae and the case with which they can settle on the bottom. The bottom current is
also important in the transport of food particle, sweeping them away from some areas and
concentrating them in others, especially in depressions in the sea bed.

Pressure: abyssal depths, where temperature and salinity are uniform over great areas, hydrostatic
pressure may well be the chief factor which accounts for differences between communities within the
ocean trenches and those of other parts of the deep sea bottom.

Biological factors affecting distribution of communities:

Although inorganic factors exert a major control, there are also biological factors which influence the
distribution and composition of benthic communities. The physical and chemical features of the
environment determine a range of species which compete, but success or failure in a particular habitat
depends ultimately on qualities inherent in the organisms themselves. Free living forms can move about
to find areas that suit them, but majority of adult benthic animals remain more or less stationary,
confined within burrows or attached to the bottom. Most of these start life as pelagic larvae dispersed
by the water . Once they settle and metamorphose they stay in placed and die if conditions are
unsuitable, there are great losses, but the larvae of many species show behavioural features which
influence dispersal and favour their chances reaching situations where survival is possible. Many species
of larvae have some control over the depth at which they float, often by virtue of their response to light.
Larvae of shallow water species are usually photopositive for a time, collecting near the surface , while
those of deeper dwelling forms mostly prefer dim illumination or darkness and therefore occupy deeper
levels. The depth at which the larvae float must obviously influence the depth at which they settle.

Selective settlement: It has also been demonstrated that larvae of certain species can discriminate
between different substrates. And have some power of selection. The sand particle size, coating or
organic material and bacteria on the surface of the sand grains, other qualities of surfaces include
differences of chemical nature, texture, slope, contour and colour which discriminate the settlement of
larvae of different species of benthic organisms. Other attractions are for eg. Shipworm (teredo) larvae
to wood, tube worm (spirorbis) larvae to the seaweed Fucus, the gastropod nassarius to mud. In other
species many settling on rocks eg. Acorn barnacle, spirorbid tube worms and the honey comb worm
Sabelleria the larvae must usually first make actual contact with the shells, cuticle or cementing
substrate of their own or closely related species before settlement is attempted, the stimulus for
settlement being dependent on chemical sense. The majority of rock settling larvae prefer rough to
smooth surface and light to dark surfaces. Some eg.. The sponge Ophlitaspongia settle on overhanging
surfaces. In some rocky shore animals semibalanus water turbulence encourages settlement. Barnacle
cyprids settle mot readily from floating water, different species preferring different water velocities.
Selective settlement offers several advantages , it reduces larval losses.

Competition and predation:

Once the larvae have settled, many other biological factors begin to influence their chances of survival.
A community is a society of organisms with many infractions between the individuals. There is often
competition for living space, that is struggle for existence. After settlement many larvae exhibit some
exploratory behavior moving about over the surface and spacing themselves to avoid crowing. Delayed
settlement is usually reduced spacing movements. The success of species in competing for space is also
influenced by differences of breeding periods, reproductive capacities and growth rates.

Interactions between predator and prey must regulate the numbers of both. Mortality due to predation
is usually highest during the period following settlement while the individuals are still small. Certain
predators, notably Ophiuroids are sometimes so numerous that they carpet the bottom. Some benthic
carnivores have phases when feeding diminishes or ceases, in association with breeding, during this time
if any species settle may able to reach sufficient size to become safe from predation before enemies
start feeding again. The composition of a community may therefore reflect coincidences between
passive periods of predators and settlement periods of other species.

Interrelationships:

The individuals of a community are in various ways interdependent, and some organisms thrive only in
the present of particular associated forms. Each type of animal is dependent upon other organisms for
food and the quantity and quality of food sources obviously exert a profound control over the numbers
and composition of communities. Certain organisms depend upon others to provide surfaces of
attachment upon which they can grow. Eg. Barnacle Pyrgoma on the cup coral Caryophyllia, the
anemone Adamsia on the hermit crab Pagurus. Some animals share the burrows formed by others. Eg.
Polychaete Lepidasthenia shares with another Polychaete Amphitrite. One species may live inside in
other eg. Typton shrimp within sponges Desmacidon. Relationships between species certainly involve
numerous association f an epizoic, commensal, symbiotic or parasitic nature.

Stability of communities:
Beneath shallow water, benthic communities show seasonal and annual fluctuations, but over the long
term by usually remain fairly constant in numbers and composition, indicating that the major factors
moulding the community are stable. Because every community includes a range of species each having
slightly different tolerances, there is consequently a inherent capacity to adapt to minor changes of
environmental conditions by corresponding adjustments of community structure. Eg. Temperature, are
likely to influence recruitment and mortality of one species differently from another., with the result
that the proportion of one species increases while another declines but does not necessarily become
eliminated. If conditions return to their former state, the balance of species responds accordingly and
the overall pattern of the community remains.

Rapid permanent changes of population a usually associated with major alterations of the environment,
often the results of the human activity. Eg. Changes of the sea floor due to dredging /dumping, changes
may also follow the introduction of a new species to an area. The continual minor fluctuations are
largely self cancelling. Over a long period, climatic /geological changes may slowly alter the environment
and there are also gradual and permanent modifications brought about by the activities of organisms
themselves. Eg. The substrate becomes changed by accumulations of shells or skeletons or trough the
erosion of rocks and stones by the boring of various plants and animals, and the composition of the
water is influenced by biological processes of extraction, precipitation and secretion. The continual
interactions between habitat and community lead very gradually to changes in both and the ecosystem,
which comprises both environment and population, is thus a composite evolving unit.