I attach an article on the invasion of the lionfish species that is able to move to depths greater than 300 meters deep.

follow

Dear Enrique, Thank you for this lionfish paper. Might you or anyone else reading my question know of any marine invertebrates introduced at depth >100m?

The introduction of red king crab into the Barents Sea might qualify, as they certainly go that deep.

Thank you, Gregory. As we know, they were introduced into shallower water but certainly move to depths being thought of in this thread. But are there examples of introductions in the deep sea?

Here is one example of what I am considering in this question. Submersibles are only one possible vector; any deep water human activity (mining, dragging seamounts for fish, etc.) are potential vectors. I suppose that any nearshore gear that made its way offshore and sank in deep water might possibly introduce species if they could survive at depth.

Janet R. Voight, Raymond W. Lee, Abigail J. Reft, Amanda E. Bates. Scientific Gear as a Vector for Non-Native Species at Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents. Conservation Biology, 2012; DOI: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2012.01864.x

Here is another that addresses the concern expressed in the paper just cited in my last answer. So I wonder, are there documented cases of deep water introductions?

Thale AD, Freitag A, Bergman E, Fretz D, Saleu W. 2015. Robots as Vectors for Marine Invasions: Best Practices for Minimizing Transmission of Invasive Species Via Observation-Class ROVs. Tropical Conservation Science 8(3): 711-717; https://doi.org/10.1177/194008291500800308

I agree with you Tom. I don't know of an invasive species found at those depths. I worked on the BP Gulf oil spill for a few years and the benthic ecologists working on the benthic community never commented on the topic. One of the first things I was tasked with was to prepare a briefing paper for BP (yes I was working for Entrix; BPs contractor). Realize we were working at water depths of 200 to over a 1000 meters so may not apply to this question. It is a general paper for the somewhat prepared person. I will attach it here for those interested. Take care all. Pete

Hi Peter, Thank you for this contribution. The report is excellent. From the frequency of answers to my question, it doesn't seem like anyone has thought much about this topic since the two papers I uploaded in this thread. Each was published after your BP work, and the issue was likely not on anyone's mind back then.

Thank you Tom. I came across this paper this morning from ResearchGate. I thought you might be interested incase you haven't seen it yet.

Thank you, Peter. Hopefully such interests are well underway at the other end of the globe for the Arctic. Perhaps we are in for another trans-Arctic migration (or its already happening). All the best, Tom

Hi Tom, Here is another question. Physiologically, could a shallow water species survive at those depth. The pressure at those depths is horrendous. Take care, Pete

I see your point, Pete. Of course at extreme depths that might be so, otherwise I'm not sure that the pressure (at 100 m, about 145 psi) would be the most limiting factor. More likely the availability of food would be a greater limitation.

There are examples of species among groups most notorious for being introduced into non-native ranges which can live in deep water. For example, Aplidium glabrum, a variety of sea pork, is a colonial tunicate that has been reported from depths up to 862 meters yet also inhabits the intertidal. Of course there is always the possibility that this is a species complex with cryptic species, some living in deeper waters.

Originally when I posed this question I was thinking about the possibility of deep sea mining or similar operations moving species around accidentally. But I'm very interested to hear what others may have to say about examples of species introduced at depth which originated in either shallow or deep waters and what their possible vectors might have been.

Hey Tom, how about abandoned drift nets? Seems to me they may make a good vecter. They trap a lot of sea life and could easily sink to the bottom.

Hi Peter, You bet! Here is an interesting paper supporting your idea, except in this case, the authors suggest that the bryozoans (new to Dutch waters), use ghost nets for subtidal settlement. ~Tom

Dear Prof. Tom,

In my opinion, the oceanic current circulation pattern in respect to temperature gradient or salinity gradient could be a key issue for the species invasion in to the deep sea . Again impact of El nino and La nina on this particular issue can not be ruled out completely.

I agree with Gregory, lithodid crabs are presently found off the Antarctic continental slope and hypothesized to disperse at larval stages:

https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1890/04-0620?casa_token=hzDMC6P1oXAAAAAA:-skZVk9jFi1xtsfE9REG7BdeGouz7HBoi1cTrqNjyF1JUhvtv2gs79_L1I11QOVSdtREXGzu_CNbT6Ow

Dear Tom,

I just read your question. I attach here a link of a chapter on a potential vector of bryozoans, pycnogonids: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-16411-8_10. I discussed it a bit in some of my papers on bryozoan diversity in cold waters (Figuerola et al. 2014, 2017).

I hope it helps.

Regards,

Blanca

Thank you, Blanca. I never considered biological vectors as a possibility. Intriguing. And related to Juan's answer, if anyone has doubts about the abilities of some intertidal species to survive harsh environmental conditions during transport, such as cold temps, etc., mussels from Patagonia have recently been introduced to Antarctica. See the attached Open Access paper for more details. ~Tom

Hi Tom,

Cancer irroratus might occur quite deeply (500m) so I think it might occur deeper than 80m in Icelandic waters. You should discuss with those guys about this potentiality: https://www.researchgate.net/project/The-Atlantic-rock-crab-Cancer-irroratus-in-Icelandic-waters

Kind regards,

Gabin

Hi Tom, this is very interesting question.. I never thought about the probability of the invasive species going into the deep waters. But can we consider it as an invasive species after the continental margin distances? Or do they really can make a dominance in the vast habitats over there to make a considerable impact?

Hi Ajin,

Thank you for your thoughts and questions. I think I know what you are getting at. However, first off the question is not restricted to invasive species, since it also considers species introductions. Additionally, it considers depths >100m, which includes continental shelves and the deep sea. To my knowledge, there is no reason why a species could not be introduced and become established in depths > 100m, and some of the answers to the original question include examples. I'll add the colonial ascidian Didemnum vexillum as another invasive with a wide depth distribution, where in New England, it's negative effects are observed from the intertidal out to the scallop grounds of Georges Banks (not deep sea but continental shelf).

Considering your idea, hypothetically, a species that has become invasive might exert its negative effects in waters shallower than the deep sea, but not once it spreads into that realm. But if the occupied region of the deep sea is outside of the native range of that species, then it would still be considered an introduced species. That scenario fits within the original question's envelope. Yet what is to prevent such species becoming invasive if it can establish in a special habitat, like whale falls, tree falls, or deep sea vents/seeps? Or would becoming established be an impossibility?

Moreover, why couldn't a species normally found in the deep sea be accidentally introduced outside of its native range? Hypothetically thinking, is it an impossibility that the dispersion of a vent species outside of its native region could be aided accidentally through human or nonhuman vectors?

~Tom