Biology subjects

Meyer, C. P.

Publications and source records attributed to Meyer, C. P..

6 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Energy quality shapes biodiversity across coastal oceans

Earth's biodiversity is distributed unevenly, typically peaking in warm, vegetated, and stable environments. This has frequently been linked to energy availability, which boosts productivity, bolsters populations, and facilitates coexistence. Here, we examine the relationship between energy and biodiversity across coastal oceans using particulate organic matter biogeochemistry and environmental DNA. We reveal that energy quantity (concentrations of carbon, nitrogen, and hydrolyzable amino acids) and salinity, two variables that co-vary with freshwater inflow, jointly predict species richness at regional and global scales. Biodiversity was lowest at sites and locations with high energy inflow and low salinity, suggesting that environmental filtering associated with the osmotic stress induced by freshwater inflow outweighs raw resource availability in governing species richness. Independent of this gradient, however, energy quality (defined via C:N ratios, {delta}C values, and amino acid profiles) was associated with higher biodiversity. Labile, protein-rich, marine-derived resources supported higher biodiversity across all taxa at the regional scale, and a larger number of planktonic consumer taxa at both regional and global scales. High energy quality sites were also enriched in key planktonic groups such as calanoid and cyclopoid copepods, suggesting that these sites act as hotspots of planktonic biodiversity across coastal seascapes. Our findings suggest that few species can directly harness the plentiful resources provided by terrestrial subsidies in coastal oceans because they arrive in low salinity waters. In turn, high-quality food attracts a diverse range of consumers, which may seed the patchy foraging hotspots that characterize open-water food webs. Altered coastal hydrodynamics and biogeochemistry may therefore affect nearshore biodiversity, food webs, and fisheries.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2026

Ubiquitous trophic niche partitioning drives species coexistence and biomass on coral reefs

Coral reefs support an extraordinary diversity and biomass of fishes. However, whether species coexist through fine-scale niche partitioning, and whether this impacts ecosystem functioning, remain unresolved. We combined DNA metabarcoding and stable isotope analysis to reconstruct a high-resolution food web and quantify the trophic niches of 2,060 reef fishes across 261 species. We observed extreme trophic partitioning: species pairs diverged by a median of 93% (DNA metabarcoding) and 86% (stable isotopes), consistently overlapping far less than expected by chance. Further, communities with greater trophic complementarity supported higher standing-stock biomass, particularly at high species richness. Our results confirm limiting similarity and trophic complementarity as the driving forces of coexistence and ecosystem functioning in the ocean's most diverse ecological community.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2025

Environmental filtering shapes patch dynamics across isolated mesophotic reefs

Mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs; [~]30-150 m) are major but poorly understood benthic habitats. We used Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) and integrated metabarcoding (mtCOI, 18S), image analysis, and hydrodynamic modeling across six mesophotic banks in the Gulf of Mexico to test whether community assembly is governed by environmental filtering or dispersal limitation. Local environmental conditions explained nearly twice as much compositional variance as geographic effects. Differences in depth and turbidity predicted community dissimilarity up to tenfold better than geographic distance. Turbidity, driven by the benthic nepheloid layer (BNL), was the dominant filter, while depth effects were weaker and taxon-specific. Hydrodynamic simulations revealed dispersal is variable but not limiting. These findings identify the BNL as a key physical driver linking shelf oceanography, biodiversity, and ecosystem function. Suspended particle dynamics associated with BNLs merit integration into conservation planning as critical mediators of ecological connectivity in mesophotic and other patchy reef systems globally. TeaserSuspended particle layers, not dispersal barriers, determines which species colonize mesophotic coral reefs on the TX-LA continental shelf.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2024

Phylogenomics reveals coincident divergence between giant host sea anemones and the clownfish adaptive radiation.

The mutualism between clownfishes (or anemonefishes) and their giant host sea anemones are among the most immediately recognizable animal interactions on the planet and have attracted a great deal of popular and scientific attention [1-5]. However, our evolutionary understanding of this iconic symbiosis comes almost entirely from studies on clownfishes-- a charismatic group of 28 described species in the genus Amphiprion [2]. Adaptation to venomous sea anemones (Anthozoa: Actiniaria) provided clownfishes with novel habitat space, ultimately triggering the adaptive radiation of the group [2]. Clownfishes diverged from their free-living ancestors 25-30 MYA with their adaptive radiation to sea anemones dating to 13.2 MYA [2, 3]. Far from being mere habitat space, the host sea anemones also receive substantial benefits from hosting clownfishes, making the mutualistic and co-dependent nature of the symbiosis well established [4, 5]. Yet the evolutionary consequences of mutualism with clownfishes have remained a mystery from the host perspective. Here we use bait-capture sequencing to fully resolve the evolutionary relationships among the 10 nominal species of clownfish-hosting sea anemones for the first time (Figure 1). Using time-calibrated divergence dating analyses we calculate divergence times of less than 25 MYA for each host species, with 9 of 10 host species having divergence times within the last 13 MYA (Figure 1). The clownfish-hosting sea anemones thus diversified coincidently with clownfishes, potentially facilitating the clownfish adaptive radiation, and providing the first strong evidence for co-evolutionary patterns in this iconic partnership. O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=187 SRC="FIGDIR/small/576469v1_fig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (58K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@7053b4org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@876c65org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@dd6d9forg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@147fddd_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG O_FLOATNOFigure 1.C_FLOATNO Diversification of the clownfish-hosting sea anemones was coincident with the clownfish adaptive radiation. A) Time-calibrated maximum likelihood cladogram of Order Actiniaria based on 328 ultra-conserved element and exon loci (75% data occupancy matrix). The three clades containing the clownfish hosting sea anemones are highlighted reflecting the multiple evolutionary origins of symbiosis with clownfishes within superfamily Actinioidea. B-D) Detailed time-calibrated maximum likelihood cladograms of Entacmaea quadricolor, Clade Stichodactylina, and Clade Heteractina, respectively. In all panels, the orange line denotes the beginning of the clownfish adaptive radiation 13 MYA. Sea anemone superfamilies Actinostoloidea, Metridioidea, Actiniernoidea, and Edwardsioidea are collapsed for clarity. C_FIG

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Host identity and symbiotic association affects the genetic and functional diversity of the clownfish-hosting sea anemone microbiome

All eukaryotic life engages in symbioses with a diverse community of bacteria that are essential for performing basic life functions. In many cases, eukaryotic organisms form additional symbioses with other macroscopic eukaryotes. The tightly-linked physical interactions that characterize many macroscopic symbioses creates opportunities for microbial transfer, which likely affects the diversity and function of individual microbiomes, and may ultimately lead to microbiome convergence between distantly related taxa. Here, we sequence the microbiomes of five species of clownfish-hosting sea anemones that co-occur on coral reefs in the Maldives. We test the importance of evolutionary history, clownfish symbiont association, and habitat on the genetic and predicted functional diversity of the microbiome, and explore signals of microbiome convergence in anemone taxa that have evolved symbioses with clownfishes independently. Our data indicate that host identity shapes the majority of the genetic diversity of the clownfish-hosting sea anemone microbiome, but predicted functional microbial diversity analyses demonstrate a convergence among host anemone microbiomes, which reflect increased functional diversity over individuals that do not host clownfishes. Further, we identify up-regulated microbial functions in host anemones that are likely affected by clownfish presence. Taken together our study reveals an even deeper metabolic coupling between clownfishes and their host anemones, and what could be a previously unknown mutualistic benefit to anemones that are symbiotic with clownfishes.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2019

Phylogenetic relationships among the clownfish-hosting sea anemones

The clownfish-sea anemone symbiosis has been a model system for understanding fundamental evolutionary and ecological processes. However, our evolutionary understanding of this symbiosis comes entirely from studies of clownfishes. A holistic understanding of a model mutualism requires systematic, biogeographic, and phylogenetic insight into both partners. Here, we conduct the largest phylogenetic analysis of sea anemones (Order Actiniaria) to date, with a focus on expanding the biogeographic and taxonomic sampling of the 10 nominal clownfish-hosting species. Using a combination of mtDNA and nuDNA loci we test 1) the monophyly of each clownfish-hosting family and genus, 2) the current anemone taxonomy that suggests symbioses with clownfishes evolved multiple times within Actiniaria, and 3) whether, like the clownfishes, there is evidence that host anemones have a Coral Triangle biogeographic origin. Our phylogenetic reconstruction demonstrates widespread poly-and para-phyly at the family and genus level, particularly within the family Stichodactylidae and genus Sticodactyla, and suggests that symbioses with clownfishes evolved minimally three times within sea anemones. We further recover evidence for a Tethyan biogeographic origin for some clades. Our data provide the first evidence that clownfish and some sea anemone hosts have different biogeographic origins, and that there may be cryptic species of host anemones. Finally, our findings reflect the need for a major taxonomic revision of the clownfish-hosting sea anemones.

evolutionary biology↗