Nematode abundance at the oxygen minimum zone in the Arabian Sea

This paper supports the hypothesis that low oxygen does not influence deep- sea nematode abundance by investigating an oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) on the Oman slope in the Arabian Sea. Correlation with a number of environmental variables indicated that food quality (measured as the hydrogen index) rath er than oxygen was the major predictor of nematode abundance. Nematode abun dance was also positively correlated with abundance of total macrofauna, an nelids, spionid polychaetes and macrofaunal tube builders. Comparison with published data showed Arabian Sea nematode abundance to be similar to that of the Porcupine Seabight and Bay of Biscay regions of the northeast Atlant ic, which also receive significant quantities of phytodetritus but have no OMZ. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.