Publication Date:
2023-11-10
Description:
Meiofauna standing stocks and community structure are reported for the first time for abyssal soft-sediment samples in Antarctic waters. At seven stations within a depth range of 2274-5194 m a total of 128 sediment cores were retrieved with a multiple corer (MUC) on board of the R.V. Polarstern during the ANDEEP-1 cruise (ANT XIX/3). The metazoan meiofauna (defined by a lower size limit of 40 µm) was identified and counted, and one core per station was preserved for CPE, C/N, TOM and grain size analyses. Meiofauna densities are in the range of 2731 Ind./10 cm² at 2290 m depth and 75 Ind./10 cm² at 3597 m depth, with nematodes being the dominant group at all stations. Nematodes account for 84-94% followed by copepods with 2-8% of the total meiofauna. Other frequent taxa found at each station are kinorhynchs, loriciferans, tantulocarids, ostracods and tardigrades.
There is a general tendency of decreasing abundances of metazoan meiofauna with increasing depth, but not all higher level taxa displayed this pattern. In addition, a tendency of decreasing higher taxon density with increasing depth was observed. Standing stocks are higher than the average found at similar depths in other oceans.
Keywords:
Amphipoda; ANT-XIX/3; AWI; Bivalvia; Copepoda; Counting 〉40 µm fraction; Cumacea; Date/Time of event; Elevation of event; Event label; Gastropoda; Gastrotricha; Halacaroidea; Isopoda; Kinorhyncha; Latitude of event; Longitude of event; Loricifera; Meiofauna, abundance; MUC; MultiCorer; Nauplii; Nematoda; Ophiuridae; Ostracoda; Polarstern; Priapulida; Priority Programme 1158 Antarctic Research with Comparable Investigations in Arctic Sea Ice Areas; PS61/042-5; PS61/042-7; PS61/043-4; PS61/043-6; PS61/046-4; PS61/046-6; PS61/099-5; PS61/099-7; PS61/105-2; PS61/105-4; PS61/105-6; PS61/114-5; PS61/114-7; PS61/114-9; PS61/129-5; PS61/129-7; PS61 ANDEEP 1; Rotifera; Scotia Sea, southwest Atlantic; SPP1158; Tanaidacea; Tantulocarida; Tardigrada
Type:
Dataset
Format:
text/tab-separated-values, 928 data points
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