Benthic amphipods (Crustacea: Malacostraca) in Icelandic waters: Diversity in relation to faunal patterns from shallow to intermediate deep Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans

J. B.F. Weisshappel, J. Svavarsson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Patterns in diversity, species replacement and species composition of gammaridean amphipods (Crustacea: Malacostraca) were studied in two areas on different sides of the Greenland-Iceland-Faeroe Ridge. One was sited south of the Ridge in the North Atlantic Ocean off southern Iceland and the other north of the Ridge in the Arctic Ocean (subarctic and arctic waters of the Iceland Sea) off northern Iceland. Samples were taken with a Rothlisberg-Pearcy epibenthic sled within the depth range of about 50 to 1200 m at a total of 28 stations. In all 21 150 individuals were found belonging to 156 species. Of these 102 were found in the northern area with 64 of the species restricted to this area. In all 94 species were found in the southern area with 52 of the species restricted to this area. This suggests a similar regional diversity, but a different faunal composition. The amphipods showed similar species replacement patterns with depth on both sides of the Ridge, while the diversity patterns differed between the areas. In the North Atlantic the number of species increased with depth, while in the Arctic there seemed to be no pattern at all. It is suggested that diversity patterns of amphipods on each side of the Ridge are shaped by different factors, and these may not be the same as those determining diversity patterns of other groups in the area. Salinity (as indicative of water masses) was found to be the most important environmental variable in explaining the species composition when both areas were considered, suggesting a number of contributing factors (adaptation to water masses, dispersal, etc.). Water temperature was the most important variable in explaining the variance in the species composition in the northern area, while depth was the most important variable in explaining the variance in the species composition of the southern area.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)133-143
Number of pages11
JournalMarine Biology
Volume131
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 1998

Bibliographical note

Funding Information: Acknowledgements We wish to thank A. Ingólfsson for many discussions, constructive comments and kind advice, G.V. Helga-son for his constructive comments, the staff of the Sandger…i Marine Center for sorting the samples, and Á. Davídsson, P.M. Jónsson, E.D. Thórdardóttir and S. Pálsson for various types of assistance. Furthermore, we thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive advice. We wish to thank T. Brattegard for inviting one of us to participate on cruises with R.V. ‘‘Håkon Mos-by’’ and many fruitful discussions on the Nordic fauna, and MRI for providing ship-time on R.V. ‘‘Bjarni Sæmundsson’’. This study was a part of M.Sc. studies by the first author at the University of Iceland. This study was supported by grants from the Icelandic Research Fund for Graduate Students, the University of Iceland Research Grant Fund and the Icelandic Research Council. Contribution from BIOICE (Benthic Invertebrates of Iceland waters).

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