PeerJ Award Winners at 17DSBS

by | Jan 28, 2025 | Award Winner Interviews

The 17th Deep-Sea Biology Symposium (17DSBS) took place from January 12 to 17, 2025, at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) in Hong Kong SAR, China.

This symposium brought together experts worldwide who were deeply involved in deep-sea biological science, biodiversity conservation, and the development of environmental policies and management strategies to protect deep-sea ecosystems.

The event featured keynote and invited speakers, scientific sessions, and field trips, providing a comprehensive platform for knowledge exchange and collaboration among professionals in the field. Participants engaged in insightful discussions and valuable networking opportunities throughout the symposium.

As part of the meeting’s commitment to student mentorship, most of the attendees with advanced degrees contribute to an extensive program of judging and providing feedback on student presentations and posters that culminates in the awarding of  The PeerJ best oral presentation, and PeerJ best poster Awards.

Sierra Landreth, M.S. student at Florida State University

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your research interests?
I grew up in the landlocked state of Arkansas but have been fascinated by the ocean and marine animals as far back as elementary school. I am currently pursuing a master’s degree in biological oceanography, with a primary focus on studying deep-sea benthic megafaunal communities of central and western Pacific seamounts.

 

What first interested you in this field of research?
The unexplored and mysterious nature of the deep sea has piqued my interest since I started my undergraduate program in marine biology at the University of West Florida. I would watch live-streamed footage of real-time deep-sea expeditions and be in awe of all the beautiful and unique creatures observed in the ocean. While I had participated in local research projects as an undergraduate student at the University of West Florida, I wanted to broaden my research experience and pursue opportunities within the field of deep-sea biology. As a graduate student, I learned about the importance of deep-sea coral and sponges as primary structure formers on seamounts and sought to aid in the conservation of these vital habitats through my research.

 

Can you briefly explain the research you presented at the 17DSBS meeting?

The research that I presented at the 17th Deep-Sea Biology Symposium was on comparing the benthic megafaunal communities of seamounts in the Mid-Pacific Mountains, Necker Ridge, and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. These regions are important to characterize since they are targets of potential deep-sea mining activities due to cobalt manganese-rich crusts. Furthermore, Necker Ridge has been hypothesized as a key stepping-stone in faunal dispersal between the Mid-Pacific Mountains and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. My research aims to test this hypothesis by comparing the species composition of seamount fauna between the three regions at a consistent depth of 1,500m. This was accomplished using video transects collected across 7 sites by the ROV SuBastian, which were converted to screen grabs collected every 10 seconds and annotated to the lowest possible taxonomic unit using the BioImage Indexing Graphical Labeling and Exploration (BIIGLE) web service. The regions in this study were heterogeneous and greatly differed in benthic community composition, structure, abundance, and dominant taxa.

What are your next steps? How will you continue to build on this research?
The benthic megafaunal community composition and structure of these three regions are important to characterize but may also be influenced by environmental parameters. To build on this research, I plan to analyze the substrate composition and size of the targeted areas and compare them to the observed benthic megafauna. Furthermore, temperature, salinity, and conductivity measurements were also taken during the ROV deployments and could influence benthic megafauna observed across sites. By incorporating all of these elements, I hope to gain better insight into whether environmental parameters aid in explaining observed benthic megafauna or if the regions contribute to the observed heterogeneity of community compositions.
Image: Schmidt Ocean Institute.

 

Yo Asada, PhD student at the Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Japan

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your research interests?
I am currently working on trench biology, with a focus on the taxonomy, biogeography, and evolution of hadal bivalves in the Northwest Pacific Ocean. The main focus of my research is to understand how hadal species are distributed in trenches, and how such endemics have been created. I`m fascinated to uncover the adaptation and evolutionary pattern of organisms in one of the least explored extreme environments on the earth. I am also conducting research on the taxonomy and ecology of shallow-water amphipods as a side project.

What first interested you in this field of research?
Collecting seashells and land snails has always been one of my favorite hobbies. During a hadal research expedition led by Professor Kojima, the head of our laboratory, a large number of bivalves were collected (In fact, due to this abundance and diversity, bivalves are now considered by our team to be one of the most suitable groups for trench research). Since none of the crew members were studying bivalves, I immediately offered to take on their research. In other words, it was somewhat by chance that I began this research.

 

Can you briefly explain the research you presented at 17DSBS meeting?
Trenches, the deepest oceanic topography, are known to host unique species assemblages, called the hadal fauna. However, sampling difficulties have limited our understanding of the distribution patterns and processes underlying their endemism. To address these challenges, we conducted a species composition analysis and a phylogenetic assessment of Bivalvia collected from the Japan Trench and the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench. I believe the former contributes to defining the bathymetric ranges of  “the hadal zone,” as the term was originally established from the perspective of community ecology. The latter analysis shed light on how this unique fauna has evolved, utilizing several pairs of close-related species across different genera.

What are your next steps? How will you continue to build on this research?
My next area of interest is identifying the factors that determine the distribution of hadal species. I am also fascinated by the adaptation mechanisms to the world’s deepest habitat. Unraveling these mysteries will significantly enhance our understanding of the hadal ecosystem.

Get PeerJ Article Alerts