Deep-sea biodiversity at the extremes of the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges with implications for conservation

Desventuradas, while morid cod (Moridae–primarily Antimora rostrata) were correlated with deeper sites at Desventuradas. Cutthroat eels (Synaphobranchidae–primarily cf. Synaphobran- chus affinis) were correlated with deeper sites at both RN/SyG and Desventuradas. Discussion Community assemblage and habitat relationships Faunal community structure based on our camera deployments was highly dissimilar between and within subregions. Our findings are consistent with previous studies that note that every seamount along the ridges may have a unique faunal composition [50, 65, 66]. Seamount sys- tems such as the Salas y Go´mez and Nazca ridges, which are geographically and hydrographi- cally isolated due to the influence of the region’s current systems, are likely to have developed highly endemic taxa and ecosystems [66, 86]. The Salas y Go´mez and Nazca ridges comprise over 110 seamounts, which represent roughly 41% of seamounts found in the southeastern Fig 8. Fish assemblage characteristics (taxa richness, MaxN, diversity, and evenness) at Desventuradas and RN/SyG on hard and soft-bottom habitats. Box plots showing median (black line), mean (red line), upper and lower quartiles, and 5th and 95th percentiles. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253213.g008 PLOS ONE Deep-sea biodiversity along the Salas y Go´ mez and Nazca ridges PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253213 June 30, 2021 15 / 27