About the Authors
- Paul A. Montagna
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* E-mail: paul.montagna@tamucc.edu
Affiliation Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, Texas, United States of America
- Jeffrey G. Baguley
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Affiliation Department of Biology, University of Nevada-Reno, Reno, Nevada, United States of America
- Cynthia Cooksey
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Affiliation National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Charleston, South Carolina, United States of America
- Ian Hartwell
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Affiliation National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States of America
- Larry J. Hyde
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Affiliation Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, Texas, United States of America
- Jeffrey L. Hyland
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Affiliation National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Charleston, South Carolina, United States of America
- Richard D. Kalke
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Affiliation Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, Texas, United States of America
- Laura M. Kracker
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Affiliation National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Charleston, South Carolina, United States of America
- Michael Reuscher
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Affiliation Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, Texas, United States of America
- Adelaide C. E. Rhodes
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Affiliation Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, Texas, United States of America
Competing Interests
The authors have the following interests. Sample collection during cruises on board R/V Gyre and R/V Ocean Veritas during the Response phase was partly funded by BP as part of the DWH Response effort through funds from BP under the direction of the DWH Unified Area Command (UAC). Christopher Lewis (Industrial Economics, Inc.) reviewed and commented on earlier versions of the manuscript. The study design and scope of work for the present deep-water/soft-bottom benthic study was approved jointly by representatives of the DWH NRDA Trustees and BP. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials, as detailed online in the guide for authors.
Author Contributions
Conceived and designed the experiments: PAM JLH. Performed the experiments: IH RDK. Analyzed the data: PAM LMK CC JGB. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: PAM JGB LMK. Wrote the paper: PAM JGB JLH. Performed laboratory and systematic biodiversity analyses: JGB LJH RDK MR ACER.