DOI: 10.5061/dryad.cv910
title: Data from: High connectivity across the fragmented chemosynthetic ecosystems of the deep Atlantic Equatorial Belt: efficient dispersal mechanisms or questionable endemism?

description: Chemosynthetic ecosystems are distributed worldwide in fragmented habitats
 harbouring seemingly highly specialized communities. Yet, shared taxa have
 been reported from highly distant chemosynthetic communities. These
 habitats are distributed in distinct biogeographical regions, one of these
 being the so-called Atlantic Equatorial Belt (AEB). Here, we combined
 genetic data (COI) from several taxa to assess the possible existence of
 cryptic or synonymous species and to detect the possible occurrence of
 contemporary gene flow among populations of chemosynthetic species located
 on both sides of the Atlantic. Several Evolutionary Significant Units
 (ESUs) of Alvinocarididae shrimp and Vesicomyidae bivalves were found to
 be shared across seeps of the AEB. Some were also common to hydrothermal
 vent communities of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR), encompassing taxa
 morphologically described as distinct species or even genera. The
 hypothesis of current or very recent large-scale gene flow among seeps and
 vents was supported by microsatellite analysis of the shrimp species
 Alvinocaris muricola/Alvinocaris markensis across the AEB and MAR. Two
 nonmutually exclusive hypotheses may explain these findings. The
 dispersion of larvae or adults following strong deep-sea currents,
 possibly combined with biochemical cues influencing the duration of larval
 development and timing of metamorphosis, may result in large-scale
 effective migration among distant spots scattered on the oceanic seafloor.
 Alternatively, these results may arise from the prevailing lack of
 knowledge on the ocean seabed, apart from emblematic ecosystems
 (chemosynthetic ecosystems, coral reefs or seamounts), where the
 widespread classification of endemism associated with many chemosynthetic
 taxa might hide wider distributions in overlooked parts of the deep sea.
description: COI Aligned sequences
 used for the Abyssogena southwardae networkAligned sequences of COI
 used to construct the Abyssogena southwardae haplotype network. This file
 contains samples retrieved from GenBank (indicated in the file by their
 accession number) and samples from the West African seeps
 (WACS)Network_abyssogenaAEB_26052013.phyCOI Aligned sequences used for the ESU 1 networkAligned sequences of COI used to construct the ESU 1 haplotype network. This file contains samples from the Logatchev vent (Amrk), the Gulf of Mexico (Amu) and the West African seeps (A).COI_Shrimp_ESU1_Network.phyCOI Aligned sequences used for the ESU 2 networkAligned sequences of COI used to construct the ESU 2 haplotype network. This file contains samples from the Logatchev vent (CLog), the Lucky Strike vent (C),the Blake Ridge diapir (BlRAlv) and the Cayman Ridge (CayRim)COI_Shrimp_ESU2_Network.phy18S Aligned sequences of Alvinocarididae shrimpAligned sequences of 18S. This file contains samples retrieved from GenBank (indicated by their accession numbers), Alvinocaris markensis from the Logatchev vent (Amrk), the Gulf of Mexico (Amu) and the West African seeps (A); it contains Chorocaris chacei samples from the Logatchev (Clog) and Lucky Strike (C)vent.18S_Shrimp_network.phyAlvinocaris microsatellite genotypic data in genetix formatGenotypic data obtained for Alvinocaris samples from the Gulf of Mexico, Logatchev vent and West Africa seeps. The file is in GENETIX format, where the different microsatelite loci are listed in the beggining of the file, together with the number of alleles found and their fragment sizes. This is followed by the genotype found for each individual in each population, each column corresponds to the genotype at a specific locus (in the order presented on the first part of the file)Alvgenetix18062012.gtx