Amphipoda from the superfamily Lysianassoidea Dana, 1849 play an important role in Southern Ocean benthic food webs due to their high biomass, abundance and predominantly scavenging mode of feeding. Our knowledge on the lysianassoid fauna, even in well-studied areas of the Western Antarctic Peninsula, is incomplete. Here we report the findings of an integrated study of lysianassoid amphipods of Potter Cove, King George Island/ Isla 25 de Mayo (KGI), combining morphological and molecular species identification (COI barcoding) methods, investigating more than 41,000 specimens from baited traps. For comparison, 2039 specimens from the adjacent Marian Cove were analysed. Ten lysianassoid species were recorded in the deeper outer Potter Cove, whereas the inner cove (<50 m) was dominated by a single species, Cheirimedon femoratus Pfeffer, 1888 (99.44% relative abundance). It is hypothesized that the impoverished lysianassoid fauna inside the meltwater-influenced inner cove represents a 1model for future conditions along the Western Antarctic Peninsula under conditions of increased glacial melting.
2Abyssorchomene charcoti (Chevreux, 1912)
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.