Abyssal community analysis from replicate box cores in the central North Pacific

A 0.25 m**2 United States Naval Electronics Laboratory box corer was used to take replicate samples from an oligotrophic bottom under the North Pacific Central Water Mass (~28°N, 155°W). The bottom is a red clay with manganese nodules at a depth of 5500-5800 m. Macrofaunal density ranges from 84 to 160 individuals per m**2 and is therefore much the same as in Northwest Atlantic Gyre waters. Of the macrofaunal taxa, polychaetes dominate (55 %), followed by tanaids (18 %), bivalves (7 %), and isopods (6 %). Meiofaunal taxa were only partially retained by the 297 µm screen used in washing. Even then, they are 1.5-3.9 times as abundant as the macrofaunal taxa, with nematodes being numerically dominant by far. Foraminifera seem to comprise an important portion of the community, but could not be assessed accurately because of the inability to discriminate living and dead tests. Remains of what are probably xenophyophoridans are also very important, but offer the same problem. Faunal diversity is extremely high, with deposit feeders comprising the overwhelming majority. Most species are rare, being encountered only once. The distributions of only three species show any significant deviation from randomness. The polychaete fauna from box cores collected from 90 miles to the north was not significantly different from that of the principal study locality. Concordance appeared at several taxonomic levels, from species through macrofaunal/meiofaunal relationships. As a result, the variation in total animal abundance shows aggregation among cores. We discuss Sokolova's concept of a deep-sea oligotrophic zone dominated by suspension feeders, and reconcile it with our present findings. The high diversity of the fauna combined with the low food level contradict theories that relate diversity directly with productivity.

Composition of benthic taxa collected during POLARSTERN cruise ANT-XXI/5 (BENDEX) at Bouvet Island and Spiess Seamound

Bouvet (Bouvetøya) is a geologically young and very remote island just south of the Polar Front. Here we report samples taken during the RV "Polarstern" cruise ANTXXI/2 on 3 days in November 2003 and January 2004. This work was part of SCAR's EASIZ programme and intended, by providing data on the marine fauna of this "white gap" in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean, to contribute to identifying the role of Bouvet in the faunal exchange between the Sub- and high Antarctic. While this goal demands extensive molecular analysis of the material sampled (future work), a checklist of the samples and data at hand widens the faunal and environmental inventory substantially. We suggest some preliminary conclusions on the relationship of Bouvet Island's fauna with that of other regions, such as Magellanic South America, the Antarctic Peninsula, and the high Antarctic Weddell Sea, which have been sampled previously. There seem to be different connections for individual higher taxa rather than a generally valid consistent picture.

Biological Atlas of the Arctic Seas 2000: Physical oceanography, hydrochemistry, meteorology, and plankton of the Barents and Kara Seas

Presented are physical and biological data for the region extending from the Barents Sea to the Kara Sea during 158 scientific cruises for the period 1913-1999. Maps with the temporal distribution of physical and biological variables of the Barents and Kara Seas are presented, with proposed quality control criteria for phytoplankton and zooplankton data. Changes in the plankton community structure between the 1930s, 1950s, and 1990s are discussed. Multiple tables of Arctic Seas phytoplankton and zooplankton species are presented, containing ecological and geographic characteristics for each species, and images of live cells for the dominant phytoplankton species.

On the organs of respiration of the oniscidae.

Mode of access: Internet.

Reise in Ostafrika in den Jahren 1903-1905, mit Mitteln der Hermann und Elise geb. Heckmann Wentzel-Stiftung ausgeführt. Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse.

Contributions in German, English, French or Italian.

Reports ...

Issued in parts.

Taxonomic atlas of the benthic fauna of the Santa Maria Basin and western Santa Barbara Channel : final report /

"October 1993."

Reproductive and feeding ecology of parasitic gnathiid isopods of epaulette sharks (Hemiscyllium ocellatum) with consideration of their role in the transmission of a haemogregarine

Epaulette sharks Hemiscyllium ocellatum were surveyed on Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia for gnathiid isopods and protozoan (haemogregarine) parasites to determine the prevalence and intensity of infection and to investigate the potential role of gnathiids as vectors of these haemogregarines, the first such study carried out on elasmobranchs. Juvenile gnathiids were collected and quantified using a novel non-invasive and chemical-free technique and gnathiid squashes were examined for haemogregarine developmental stages. The feeding and reproductive ecology of the Gnathia spp. was investigated to better understand the relationship between gnathiids and haemogregarines. Gnathiids were found on all sharks and intensities ranged between two and 66. Only third-stage gnathiid juveniles were found, which fell into two size groups (A and B). These juveniles remained attached to H. ocellatum for up to 17 days, the longest period of attachment yet recorded for gnathiids. Group A female gnathiids produced broods of 45-187 (median = 120) first stage juveniles from between 54 and 82 days (median = 63 days) after detachment. First stage juveniles survived for an average of 15.8 +/- 0.1 (SEM) days without feeding. The prevalence (6.7%) and parasitaemia (usually