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New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstractsComposition and distribution of macro- and meiobenthos around sublittoral hydrothermal vents in the Bay of Plenty, New ZealandG. M. KAMENEV V. I. FADEEV N. I. SELIN V. G. TARASOVInstitute of Marine Biology Russian Academy of Sciences Vladivostok 690041, RussiaV. V. MALAKHOVMoscow State University Moscow 119899, RussiaAbstract The composition and distribution of macro- and meiobenthos, and the morphology of dominant mollusc species were studied in zones of shallow-water gasohydrothermal vents in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand: near Whale and White Islands and in the area of underwater gasohydrothermal activity "Calypso". Near gasohydrothermal vents of McEwans Bay (Whale Island) we found bacterial, algobacterial, and diatom mats with low rates of oxygen consumption. On the silty sand bottom of this bay, dense populations of the bivalve Tawera spissa and the gastropod Cominella adspersa were found. The abundance of meiofauna increased closer to the vents, nematodes being dominant. The "Calypso" area and the volcanic depression near Whale Island are characterised by intensive methane seepage: here we found the pogonophore Siboglinum sp., in the volcanic depression at a silt temperature of 65CC. The abundance and diversity of bottom fauna decreased with an increase of bottom temperature. Overall, the composition of bottom fauna in the zones of volcanic activity was similar to that beyond these zones. Only in the zones of gasohydrothermal vents were stilbonematine nematodes and pogonophores found.Keywords shallow-water gasohydrothermal vents; macrobenthos; meiobenthos; mollusc morphology; pogonophores; oxygen uptake; Bay of Plenty; New Zealand New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 1993: Vol. 27: The Royal Society of New Zealand 1993
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