Microbiome of water and mucoid filaments found in King Kong Cavern, Andros Islands. Water

Andros Island in The Bahamas is composed of porous carbonate rock and has about 175 inland blue holes and over 50 known submerged ocean caves along its eastern barrier reef. King Kong Cavern (aka Ocean Blue Hole) has a vertical collapse zone and a deep penetration under Andros. On ebb flow the cave emits sulfidic and likely anoxic water and large amounts of filamentous material streams out and drifts in the cavern water column which is visibly turbid approximately 20 m below the surface of the water. Our observations of high sulfide concentrations in the inland blue holes, along with the porous nature of the karstic island, suggested that this filamentous material and water column turbidity represent unique lithoautotrophic microbial material swept from the cave into the surrounding ocean.