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Call for students to investigate species diversity and community structure of
marine organisms on Walter Shoal: ACEP III 2014
The third phase of the African Coelacanth Ecosystem Project (ACEP) includes two ship-based
projects, one of is to examining the diversity, abundance and community structure of benthic (and
possibly plankton) organisms on Walter Shoal (and connectivity) a shallow seamount 700 nautical
miles east of East London, South Africa. The project aims

To survey, sample, and identify benthic species and assess their diversity and abundance in
relation to depth, steepness of the slope as well as oceanographic variables such as current,
temperature and turbidity.
•
To assess the genetic differences between populations of seamount fauna on Walther’s Shoal
and possibly those inhabiting the south-east African continental shelf in order to investigate
connectivity and isolation of populations at different spatial scales.
•
To investigate spatial variation in diversity in relation to up & down currents
•
To investigate the diversity of benthic communities in the immediate vicinity of the seamount
•
To build skills in ship based and marine ecological research
Several NRF-administered post graduate bursaries (Hons (1), MSc (4) and PhD (1)) are available
over the period 2014 to mid- 2016 for enthusiastic, hard-working South African students to participate
in this project. Note that although the project inception is 2013 the ship-based fieldwork will only
commence in April 2014 and therefore student registration will be in 2014 only. Please contact
Toufiek Samaai (Tsamaai@environment.gov.za), Sven Kerwath (SvenK@daff.gov.za), Albrecht Götz
(albrecht@saeon.ac.za), Steve Kirkman (skirkman@environment.gov.za) or Mark J Gibbons
(mgibbons@uwc.ac.za) to apply.
The following projects are envisaged:
Supervisors: Mark Gibbons, Toufiek Samaai, Sven Kerwath, Steve Kirkman, Anthony Bernard,
Albrecht Götz, Henning Winker
MSc project III: Understanding spatial patterns of diversity, distribution and abundance of benthic
invertebrate communities associated with Walter’s Shoal, a shallow seamount in the Western Indian
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Ocean. Seamounts harbour unique benthic communities. The distribution of sessile, filter feeding
communities is usually related to seamount-induced variability in current patterns. For example,
convection and concentration of plankton leads to elevated densities, increased sizes and uncommon
growth forms of filter feeders. Communities can be markedly different on opposite seamount slopes,
or shifts in depth distributions might occur as a result of vertical trapping of zooplankton. The close
proximity of these markedly different communities offers a unique opportunity to study the underlying
mechanisms that determine benthic invertebrate community composition and abundance. Benthic
sampling will be carried out by large sled transects, ROV and SCUBA collections in different areas
and depth zones and complemented by SkiMonkey and SCUBA photo quadrates.
Supervisors: Albrecht Götz, Sven Kerwath and Anthony Bernard, Henning Winker
MSc project IV: Quantitative assessment of the ichthyofauna associated with different habitats and
depth zones on Walter’s Shoal, a shallow seamount in the Western Indian Ocean. The ichthyofauna
associated with Walter’s Shoal comprises of endemic, tropical Western Indian Ocean and wide-spread
temperate species, yet abundance and diversity in relationship with habitats and seamount-induced
oceanographic patterns remains poorly understood. In this work we employ state-of–the–art visual
sampling techniques such as Stereo Baited Remote Underwater Video stations and ROV transects to
investigate ichthyofaunal composition and size frequencies in different seamount habitats. The
observed patterns are then related to oceanographic conditions and resultant distribution of prey
organisms.
Supervisors: Mark Gibbons, Toufiek Samaai, Wayne Florence
MSc V: Taxonomy and systematics of sessile invertebrates from Walter’s Shoal, a shallow seamount
in the Western Indian Ocean region. The invertebrate taxonomy of Walter’s Shoal has not been
researched and in all likelihood our sampling effort will result in the discovery of range extensions and
species new to science. The MSc candidate will work up sample collections of selected phyla (i.e.
sponges and bryozoans), describe new species and put them into systematic context.
Supervisors: Albrecht Götz, Sven Kerwath, Toufiek Samaai, Steve Kirkman and Henning
Winker
PhD project: The ecosystem of Walter’s Shoal, a shallow seamount in the Western Indian Ocean
region. The patterns of distribution and diversity of marine organisms are determined by the physical
environment as well as biological interactions. As a shallow seamount in the Western Indian Ocean
Walter’s Shoal presents a unique experimental site to investigate these underlying processes, because
of its isolation and the extreme range of habitats, topography and oceanographic conditions within a
small geographic space. The PhD candidate will use information on composition of benthic
invertebrates and fishes and biomarkers such as stable isotope ratios and fatty acids to construct a food
web for Walter’s Shoal. Together with information on the physical environment -oceanography and
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topography- the research will aim to disentangle the underlying processes that drive biodiversity
patterns by eliminating spatially and temporally confounding factors. This project integrates the results
of all other MSc components.
Genetic Projects
Supervisors: To be finalised
MSc VI: Connectivity of Walter’s Shoal shallow ichthyofauna with adjacent regions. The shallow
water ichthyofauna found at Walter’s Shoal contains elements of the temperate Atlantic and tropical
and subtropical Indo-Pacific Echoregion. Population genetics analyses of a selection of key species
with different dispersal strategies will be carried out to investigate phylogeographic patterns.
Supervisors: To be finalised
MSc VII: Connectivity of Walter’s Shoal shallow benthic sessile fauna with adjacent regions. The
shallow water sessile benthos (e.g. Sponges found at Walter’s Shoal contains elements of the
temperate Atlantic and tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific Echoregion. Population genetics analyses
of a selection of key species with different dispersal strategies will be carried out to investigate
phylogeographic patterns.
Other projects on plankton
Supervisors: To be announced
MSc project I: Influence of oceanographic patterns on phytoplankton communities around Walter’s
Shoal, a shallow seamount in the Western Indian Ocean. Shallow seamounts are known to interact
with ocean currents in a complex manner. These interactions are considered to be responsible for a
range of oceanographic phenomena, including localised upwelling and eddies, flow acceleration, as
well as deflections of meso-scale oceanographic features. The resulting spatial complexity in primary
productivity is a feature unique to seamounts and will be the focus of this project. We expect
differences in the distribution of phytoplankton communities between oceanic waters up- and downcurrent as well as in the immediate vicinity of the seamount. By employing a variety of sampling
techniques (CTD, Multinet, Plankton Pump, ADCP and remote sensing) we aim to determine these
patterns and link them to the underlying oceanographic processes.
Supervisors: Mark Gibbons, Hans Verheye, Henning Winker
MSc project II: Influence of oceanographic patterns on zooplankton communities around Walter’s
Shoal, a shallow seamount in the Western Indian Ocean. The expected complexity in phytoplankton
distribution should translate into related distributional patterns of zooplankton communities. The
spatial design of the sampling survey will closely follow the footprint of the phytoplankton survey. An
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additional component will investigate the diurnal differences in vertical zooplankton distributions.
This will be achieved by employing multinet and oblique bongo net tows.
These projects have the potential to complement efforts by Roberts and Fennessy through exchange of
samples, data on biodiversity and oceanographic information: ACEP III linkages between
Madagascar and KwaZulu-Natal