BATHYMETRIC PATTERNS OF BODY SIZE IN DEEP‐SEA GASTROPODS

Abstract

The shift to smaller body size in marine invertebrates at the deep-sea threshold and size-depth clines within the deep-sea ecosystem are global biogeographic phenomena that remain poorly understood. We present the first standardized measurements of larval and adult size among ecologically and phylogenetically similar species across a broad and continuous depth range, using the largest family of deep-sea gastropods (the Turridae). Size at all life stages increases significantly with depth from the upper bathyal region to the abyssal plain. These consistent clines may result from selection favoring larger size at greater depths because of its metabolic and competitive advantages. The unusually small size of deep-sea mollusks, in general, may represent an independent evolutionary process that favors invasion by inshore taxa composed of small organisms.