Costa Rican Deep Sea Connections

Expedition: FK1901066 January 2019 – 27 January 2019#CostaRicaDeep

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About the Expedition

The deep sea is home to a variety of understudied, otherworldly ecosystems that are in need of human understanding if they are to have any protection from encroaching deep-sea fishing and mining activities. These systems support the global marine environment through habitat creation, nutrient cycling, and maintenance of biodiversity. However, they also happen to be found in areas with rich stores of oil, gas, minerals, and potential new pharmaceuticals. Understanding what ecosystem processes generate these key services is fundamental to their protection.

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The Mission

Characterizing Methane Seeps and Seamounts

The Pacific margin of Costa Rica is an area of seamount subduction where methane seeps, thermal anomalies, and non-subducting seamounts intersect and presumably interact. Despite several research expeditions to this region, scientists still know very little about how these types of ecosystems may be connected to communities in the rest of the oceans including the soft sediment background communities and deep-sea corals. To characterize these interactions, Dr. Erik Cordes, from Temple University, and his team of interdisciplinary researchers will use a framework coupling benthic sampling, near-bottom chemical sensor and photographic profiling, along with vertical characterizations through the water column from deep to shallow.

The 22-day expedition will visit multiple low-oxygen seep areas along the margin, and seamount sites out to the protected Isla del Coco National Park. The team will look to see how sites differ by depth, oxygen dynamics, pH, seep intensity, and the available substrate. At each site, a suite of sensors, instruments, and statistical methods will be used to combine biological and oceanographic surveys, transplant experiments, and vertical water column characterizations that will provide a full biogeochemical understanding of the area.

Exploring possible connections

Scientists believe there to be both chemical and biological linkages between seep sites, seamounts, and the surrounding environment. Corals and bivalves use calcium carbonate to build their skeletons and shells, which is less available in seawater with lower pH. It is possible that the oxidation of methane at the seep sites is a supplemental source for calcification to deep animals. Additionally, larger mobile animals may travel from site to site taking advantage of local chemosynthetic productivity, and congregating near topographic features such as seamounts.. This expedition will work to better understand how these habitats influence the animal life around it.

ROV SuBastian will explore the deep habitat collecting high resolution ocean chemistry measurements while performing video transects and obtaining sediment, rock, and animal samples. Along with the ROV, a custom ship-towed autonomous vehicle called “The Wire Flyer,” will get high resolution ocean sensing data vertically through the water column. Additionally, DNA and RNA sequencing will be used to compare animal and microbial communities from different habitats and substrates, and quantitative methods will be used to assess microbial activity.

This expedition will likely reveal new habitats, species, and possibly even new biogeochemical pathways. The chemical analyses that will be completed will help to improve our understanding of carbon cycling in the deep ocean, which has important implications not just for the surrounding deep ocean environments, but also for global climate cycling. Biological surveys of these environments will also help to resolve the relative similarity of fauna along a continuum of community types from hydrothermal vents to cold seeps and reefs. Finally, the data will provide baselines for these communities and support conservation efforts in Costa Rica that seek to protect these unique systems from the impacts of increasing human activities.

Team and Collaborators

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Expedition Data

TitleCarat icon
TypeCarat icon
RepositoryCarat icon
Biodiversity DataBiological SamplesGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
Georeferenced Species AbundanceBiological SamplesBiological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO)
Voucher SpecimensBiological SamplesBiological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO)
Collected SamplesBiological SamplesScripps Benthic Invertebrate Collection
Genetic DataGenetic Analysis DataGenBank/NCBI
Raw Illumina 16S rRNA Barcode Sequences and MetadataGenetic Analysis DataDryad Digital Repository, GenBank/NCBI
Vessel Underway dataOceanographic Property DataRolling Deck to Repository (R2R)
ADCP dataOceanographic Property DataUniversity of Hawaii SOEST
Data collected by ROV SuBastian including CTD, photography, navigation, and event loggingOceanographic Property Data, Captured Image/VideoMarine Geoscience Data System (MGDS)
Processed MBES DataSonar DataMarine Geoscience Data System (MGDS)
ROV ImageryAnnotated ImagerySquidle+
Bathymodiolus billschneideriSpecies DescriptionWorld Register of Marine Species
Bathymodiolus earlougheriSpecies DescriptionWorld Register of Marine Species
Bathymodiolus nancyschneideraeSpecies DescriptionWorld Register of Marine Species

Publications from This Expedition

  • 30 - day Preliminary Cruise Report: Costa Rican Deep Sea Connections

  • McCowin, M., Feehery, C., and G. Rouse. (2020). Spanning the depths or depth-restricted: Three new species of Bathymodiolus (Bivalvia, Mytilidae) and a new record for the hydrothermal vent Bathymodiolus thermophilus at methane seeps along the Costa Rica margin. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, doi: 10.1016/j.dsr.2020.103322.

  • Levin, L, and Rouse, G. (2019). Giant Protists (xenophyophores) Function as Fish Nurseries. Ecology, 101(4), doi: 10.1002/dcy.2933.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • Rojas-Jimenez, K., Grossart, H., Cordes, E., and Cortes, J. (2020). Fungal communities in sediments along a depth gradient in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Front. Microbiol. 11:575207, doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.575207.

  • Goffredi, S., Tilic, E., Mullin, S., Dawson, K., Keller, A., Lee, R., et. al. (2020). Methanotrophic bacterial symbionts fuel dense populations of deep-sea feather duster worms (Sabellida, Annelida) and extend the spatial influence of methane seepage. Science Advances, 6, eaay8562, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aay8562.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • Rojas-Jimenez, K., Grossart, H-P., Cordes, E., and Cortes, J. (2020). Fungal Communities in Sediments Along a Depth Gradient in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Front. Microbiol., doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.575207.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • Cordes, E. (2019). What are the Limits of Deep-sea Coral Distribution? Invited Keynote Lecture, International Symosium on Deep-sea Corals, Cartagena, Colombia.

  • Rouse, G., and Kupriyanova, E. (2021). Laminatubus (Serpulidae, Annelida) from eastern Pacific hydrothermal vents and methane seeps, with description of two new species. Zootaxa, 4914(1), doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4915.1.1.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • Sagorny, C., von Dohren, J., Rouse, G., and Tilic, E. (2022). Cutting the ribbon: bathyal Nemertea from seeps along the Costa Rica margin, with descriptions of 2 new genera and 9 new species. European Journal of Taxonomy, doi: 10.5852/ejt.2022.845.1959.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • Frable, B., Seid, C., Bronson, A., and Rask Moller, P. (2023). A new deep-sea eelpout of the genus Pyrolycus (Teleostei: Zoarcidae) associated with a hydrothermal seep on the Pacific margin of Costa Rica. Zootaxa 5230 (1), doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5230.1.5.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • Rodriguez-Flores, P., Seid, C., Rouse, G., and Giribet, G. (2023). Cosmopolitan abyssal lineages? A systematic study of East Pacific deep-sea squat lobsters (Decapoda: Galatheoidea Munidopsidae). Invertebrate Systematics, 37 (1), doi: 10.1071/IS22030.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • Grassian, B., Roman, C., Warren, J., Casagrande, D., (2023). High-resolution measurements of the epipelagic and mesopelagic ocean by a profiling vehicle equipped with environmental sensors and a broadband echosounder. Limnol Oceanogr Methods, 21:106-125. doi: 10.1002/lom3.10532.

  • Mongiardino Koch, N., Tilic, E., Miller, A.K., Stiller, J., and Rouse, G. (2023). Confusion will be my epitaph: genome-scale discordance stifles phylogenetic resolution of Holothuroidea. Proceedings of the Royal Society, 290, doi: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0988.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • McCowin, M., Collins, P., and Rouse, G. (2023). Updated phylogeny of Vestimentifera (Siboglinidae, Polychaeta, Annelida) based on mitochondrial genomes, with a new species. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 187. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2023.107872.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • Villalobos-Guerrero, T., Huč, S., Tilic, E., Hiley, A., Rouse, G. (2024). A remarkable new deep-sea nereidid (Annelida: Nereididae) with gills. PLoS ONE, 19(3), doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297961.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • Seid, C., Hiley, A., McCowin, M., Carvajal, J., Cha, H., Ahyon, S., Ashford, O. et al. (2025). A faunal inventory of methane seeps on the Pacific margin of Costa Rica. Zookeys 1222: 1-250, doi:10.3897/zookeys.1222.134385.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • Dong, D., Seid, C., Li, X., and Rouse, G. (2025). A new Pacific Ocean species of Typhlonida Macpherson & Baba, 2022 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Munididae) from the flank of the emergent seamount Isla del Coco (Costa Rica) with notes on the phylogeny of the genus. Zoosystematics and Evolution, 101 (2), doi: 10.3897/zse.101.144042.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • Hiley, A., Mongiardino Koch, N., and Rouse, G. (2024), Phylogenetics of Lepidonotopodini (Macellicephalinae, Polynoidae, Annelida), and Comparative Mitogenetics of Shallow-Water vs. Deep-Sea Scaleworms (Aphroditiformia). Biology, 13(12), doi: 10.3390/biology13120979.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • Pereira, O., Jacobsen, M., Carson, R., Cortes, J., and Levin, L. (2024). Understanding and valuing human connections to deep-sea methane seeps of Costa Rica. Ecol. Econ. 223, doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108228.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • Betters, M., Cortés, J., and Cordes, E. (2024). New species and records of limpets (Mollusca, Gastropoda) from the Pacific Costa Rica Margin. ZooKeys, 1214, 281–324, doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1214.128594.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • Betters, M. and Cordes, E. (2024). New records of Provanna (Gastropoda, Provannidae) from the Costa Rica Margin and an identification key for the genus. ZooKeys, 1189, 1–32, doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1189.109734.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • Huč, S., Hiley, A., McCowin, M., and Rouse, G. (2024). A mitogenome-based phylogeny of Pilargidae (Phyllodocida, Polychaeta, Annelida) and evaluation of the position of Antonbruunia. Diversity, 16(3), doi: 10.3390/d16030134.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]
  • [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • Hiley, A., Green, K., and Rouse, G. (2025). Seven new species of scaleworms (Lepidonotopodini, Polynoidae, Plychaeta, Annelida) from deep-sea chemosynthetic-based ecosystems. Marine Biodiversity, 55 (106), doi: 10.1007/s12526-025-01580.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • Mandre, P., and Rouse, G. (2025). Molecular Phylogeny of the Deep-Sea Predatory Octacnemidae (Ascidiacea, Tunicata, Chordata), with Seven New Species. Diversity, 17(12), doi: 10.3390/d17120859.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • Pereira, O., Rouse, G., Cordes, E., Cortés, J., and Levin, L. (2025). Seepage, depth, and oxygen as drivers of heterogeneity and resilience of carbonate macrofauna at methane seeps. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, 13(1):00096. doi: 10.1525/elementa.2024.00096.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • Rodriguez Ramirez, I., Solano-González, S., Cortés, J., Rojas-Jiménez, K.(2025). Deepsea fungi of the eastern tropical Pacific of Costa Rica: morphological, genetic, and enzymatic characterization. Frontiers in Marine Science, 12, doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1514874.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • Blake, J. (2025). New species and records of Scalibregmatidae (Annelida) from the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Southern Ocean, and adjacent seas. Megataxa, 16(1), doi: 10.11646/megataxa.16.1.1.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • Breedy, O., McFadden, C., Murillo-Cruz, C., Yánez-Suárez, A-B., Robert, K., and Quattrini, A. (2026). A coral among stars: A new octocoral family (Anthozoa, Octocorrallia, Malacalcyonacea) from seamounts in the tropical eastern Pacific. Zookeys, 1283: 253-272, doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1283.191899.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • Blake, J., Seid, C., and Rouse, G. (2026). New species and records of Cirratulidae (Annelida, Polychaeta) from methane seep and seamount habitats in the Pacific Ocean off Costa Rica. Zootaxa, 201 -239, doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5869.2.1.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

  • Mah, C. (2026). A new species and occurrences of deep-sea Asteriodea (Forcipulatacea, Valvatida, Paxillosida) from the Pacific continental margin of Costa Rica. Zootaxa, 5845 (2), doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5845.2.1.

    [This Article was published OPEN ACCESS]

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