Benthic fauna of the Gorlo Strait, White Sea: a first species inventory based on data from three different decades from the 1920s to 2000s

Abstract

This study presents an inventory of the sublittoral macrobenthic fauna of the Gorlo Strait, based on historical surveys (1922, 1980s) and an investigation carried out in 2004. A comparison of the species lists was carried out, giving particular attention to current nomenclature, synonymies and biogeographical affinity. Differences in species lists can be explained by differences in sampling gear and design, but generally species lists are complementary. The total number of species in all surveys amounts to 322, with an additional 39 taxa unidentified to species level. All the species identified represent 254 genera and 166 families. The macrobenthic fauna of the Gorlo is thus generally rich but mostly consists of rarely occurring species. This is discussed in the light of specific environmental conditions of the Gorlo, in particular low primary productivity in the water column, strong tidal currents and the unstable lithodynamics. The combined species list was characterised by high taxonomic distinctness index (96) sensu Clarke and Warwick (1998); the indices calculated for particular surveys showed only slight and mostly statistically nonsignificant differences from this value. The biogeographic structure of species composition of Gorlo does not differ between years, with the Arctic-boreal species constituting the majority (about 60%) and the Boreal and Arctic species having nearly equal shares (about 15%). Although our study revealed few North Atlantic species not hitherto recorded in the White Sea, stable shares of species with particular biogeographical affinity at the decadal scale, stability of the taxonomic distinctness indices and small differences in the composition of the core of most commonly occurring species indicate the absence of major shifts in the faunal composition: current climatic changes most probably have not yet significantly affected specific oceanographical conditions and benthic habitats of the Gorlo which shape the local macrobenthic fauna.

Phylogenetic Position of the Queer, Backward-bent Entoproct Loxosoma axisadversum (Entoprocta: Solitaria: Loxosomatidae)

“…Loxosoma axisadversum has previously been known only in northern Japan from one host species, Nicomache minor (Annelida: Maldanidae). The latter has been reported to be widely distributed in cold waters in the Northern Hemisphere: Norwegian Sea (Arwidsson 1907), Barents Sea (Arwidsson 1907Kędra et al 2010), White Sea (Tzetlin and Markelova 1985;Tzetlin et al 1997;Solyanko et al 2011), Sea of Japan (Annenkova 1937;Ushakov 1955;Imajima and Shiraki 1982;Yakovlevich 2013), Sea of Okhotsk (Ushakov 1955;Imajima and Shiraki 1982), Pacific coasts of northern Japan (Imajima and Shiraki 1982), Bering Sea (Ushakov 1955), and Hudson Bay (Berkeley and Berkeley 1943). In the White Sea, Tzetlin and Markelova (1985) found 15 species of symbionts in the tubes of N. minor, of which only an unidentified species of "Loxosomella" appeared to possess a species-specific relation with the polychaetes.…”

Importance of oceanographical background for a conservation priority areas network planned using MARXAN decision support tool in the Russian Arctic seas

“…This cold water spreads to the south and fills the deep areas of the inner White Sea at depths from 60 to 70 m to the maximum depth of about 330 m and retains sub‐zero temperature year round (Kosobokova et al, ; Pantyulin, , ) thus playing a key role in maintaining an Arctic enclave in the White Sea, which is partly located south of the Polar Circle. This oceanographical regime results in a highly distinctive pattern of benthic diversity in the Gorlo and may act as a filter for Atlantic species penetrating the White Sea (Solyanko et al, ). Strong tidal currents provide an effective supply of phytoplankton for blue mussels ( Mytilus edulis ) which form abundant shallow subtidal beds along the eastern shore of the Kola Peninsula (Milyutin & Sokolov, ) serving as feeding ground for eiders (Krasnov, Spiridonov, & Dobrynnin, ; Krasnov, Strøm, Gavrilo, & Shavykin, ).…”

“…A number of other oceanographical and sea ice features may also have a strong impact on area‐specific characteristics of biological productivity and diversity in the Arctic seas: upwellings, stationary eddies (Sirenko, Denisenko, Gagaev, Golikov, & Petryashov, ), external sources of nutrients (i.e. with the runoff of small but numerous rivers) (Sapojhnikov, Arjhanova, & Mordasova, ), reverse tidal circulation (Solyanko, Spiridonov, & Naumov, ), extensive landfast ice or pack ice massifs (Laidre et al, ), and specific regimes of semi‐landlocked basins (Semenov, ).…”

First record and potential for red king crab Paralithodes camtschaticus (Crustacea Decapoda Lithodidae) population establishment in the White Sea

“…With regard to move ment over the bottom with a complex relief, it will obviously be greater and according to the minimal estimate will be several months. We do not take into account here the near bottom currents in Gorlo of the White Sea, which are very strong and change their direction (Deryugin, 1928;Naumov and Fedyakov, 1991;Berger and Naumov, 2001;Solyanko et al, 2011) and undoubtedly would affect the speed of movement. However, under such a highly improbable assumption (directed movement to large distances by Kamchatka crabs is observed seldom, and maintaining the maximum speed from day to day is practically impossible-see above), it will turn out that migration will take place first to the area of large (over 200 m) depths of the basin of the White Sea, where deeper than 75 m there are waters with constant below zero temperature, approximately -1.4°C, which Kam chatka crab must avoid.…”

“…Therefore, one can speak about "the isolating role of Gorlo" in the aspect of modern dis peral of bottom organisms with pelagic larva from the Barents Sea to the White Sea (Deryugin, 1928;Nau mov and Gontar', 2004;Naumov, 2006;Solyanko et al, 2011). It is highly probable that Gorlo plays such a role also for Kamchatka crab.…”