BENTHIC AMPHIPODS (CRUSTACEA, MALACOSTRACA) IN ICELANDIC WATERS - DIVERSITY IN RELATION TO FAUNAL PATTERNS FROM SHALLOW TO INTERMEDIATE DEEP ARCTIC AND NORTH-ATLANTIC OCEANS
Jbf. Weisshappel et J. Svavarsson, BENTHIC AMPHIPODS (CRUSTACEA, MALACOSTRACA) IN ICELANDIC WATERS - DIVERSITY IN RELATION TO FAUNAL PATTERNS FROM SHALLOW TO INTERMEDIATE DEEP ARCTIC AND NORTH-ATLANTIC OCEANS, Marine Biology, 131(1), 1998, pp. 133-143
Patterns in diversity, species replacement and species composition of
gammaridean amphipods (Crustacea: Malacostraca) were studied in two ar
eas on different sides of the Greenland-Iceland-Faeroe Ridge. One was
sited south of the Ridge in the North Atlantic Ocean off southern Icel
and and the other north of the Ridge in the Arctic Ocean (subarctic an
d arctic waters of the Iceland Sea) off northern Iceland. Samples were
taken with a Rothlisberg-Pearcy epibenthic sled within the depth rang
e of about 50 to 1200 m at a total of 28 stations. In all 21 150 indiv
iduals 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, b
ut a different faunal composition. The amphipods showed similar specie
s replacement patterns with depth on both sides of the Ridge, while th
e 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 patter
ns of amphipods on each side of the Ridge are shaped by different fact
ors, and these may not be the same as those determining diversity patt
erns of other groups in the area. Salinity (as indicative of water mas
ses) was found to be the most important environmental variable in expl
aining the species composition when both areas were considered, sugges
ting a number of contributing factors (adaptation to water masses, dis
persal, etc.). Water temperature was the most important variable in ex
plaining the variance in the species composition in the northern area,
while depth was the most important variable in explaining the varianc
e in the species composition of the southern area.