Mixotrophic chemosynthesis in a deep-sea anemone from hydrothermal vents in the Pescadero Basin, Gulf of California

BACKGROUND: Numerous deep-sea invertebrates, at both hydrothermal vents and methane seeps, have formed symbiotic associations with internal chemosynthetic bacteria in order to harness inorganic energy sources typically unavailable to animals. Despite success in nearly all marine habitats and their well-known associations with photosynthetic symbionts, Cnidaria remain one of the only phyla present in the deep-sea without a clearly documented example of dependence on chemosynthetic symbionts. RESULTS: A new chemosynthetic symbiosis between the sea anemone Ostiactis pearseae and intracellular bacteria was discovered at ~ 3700 m deep hydrothermal vents in the southern Pescadero Basin, Gulf of California. Unlike most sea anemones observed from chemically reduced habitats, this species was observed in and amongst vigorously venting fluids, side-by-side with the chemosynthetic tubeworm Oasisia aff. alvinae. Individuals of O. pearseae displayed carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur tissue isotope values suggestive of a nutritional strategy distinct from the suspension feeding or prey capture conventionally employed by sea anemones. Molecular and microscopic evidence confirmed the presence of intracellular SUP05-related bacteria housed in the tentacle epidermis of O. pearseae specimens collected from 5 hydrothermally active structures within two vent fields ~ 2 km apart. SUP05 bacteria (Thioglobaceae) dominated the O. pearseae bacterial community, but were not recovered from other nearby anemones, and were generally rare in the surrounding water. Further, the specific Ostiactis-associated SUP05 phylotypes were not detected in the environment, indicating a specific association. Two unusual candidate bacterial phyla (the OD1 and BD1-5 groups) appear to associate exclusively with O. pearseae and may play a role in symbiont sulfur cycling. CONCLUSION: The Cnidarian Ostiactis pearseae maintains a physical and nutritional alliance with chemosynthetic bacteria. The mixotrophic nature of this symbiosis is consistent with what is known about other cnidarians and the SUP05 bacterial group, in that they both form dynamic relationships to succeed in nature. The advantages gained by appropriating metabolic and structural resources from each other presumably contribute to their striking abundance in the Pescadero Basin, at the deepest known hydrothermal vents in the Pacific Ocean.