Macro- and megabenthic assemblages in the bathyal and abyssal Weddell Sea (Southern Ocean)

The macro- and megabenthic fauna on the continental shelf of the eastern Amundsen Sea, Antarctica

“…They reported that at South Georgia, ) are low (Arntz et al, 2005). They show similar abundances to the individual numbers observed in the Scotia Sea at comparable depths (Griffiths et al, 2008) and in the Antarctic deep sea (Linse et al, 2007), which were also obtained by AGT. The trend of decreasing abundance with increasing depth, which has been observed at Antarctic slopes (Piepenburg et al, 2001),…”

“…class and order levels) is as high as that of other Antarctic regions (Gambi and Bussotti, 1999;Arntz et al, 2005;Rehm et al, 2006;Linse et al, 2007;Griffiths et al 2008;Cummings et al, 2010). However, the taxonomic composition of the Amundsen Sea benthic fauna is different from the Dumont D'Urville, Weddell and Ross Seas, and the islands in the Scotia Sea.…”

Community structure and diversity of polychaetes (Annelida) in the deep Weddell Sea (Southern Ocean) and adjacent basins

“…This might possibly be due to its geological history with alternating warming and glaciation events that supported the migration of species to deeper or adjacent waters without extinction, resulting in a mixed community of shelf and deep-water species and triggering rapid species evolution (Brandt et al 2007a;Clarke and Crame 1992;Rodriguez et al 2007;Schwabe et al 2007). The general macrofaunal composition in the ANDEEP III samples was found to be similar to that of deep-sea basins worldwide, with Polychaeta and Peracarida being the taxa most abundant in specimens in Agassiz-trawl and EBS samples (a.o., Alongi 1992;Brökeland et al 2007;Hessler and Sanders 1967;Linse et al 2007). However, within some faunal groups the within-taxon composition seems to differ from that known for other oceans (e.g., Peracarida with a unusually high proportion of Amphipoda), which might be due to general oceanographic characters of the Southern Ocean, such as the deep shelf and the lack of a thermocline favoring the submergence of rather shelf-related taxa (Brökeland et al 2007).…”

First insights into the deep-sea tanaidacean fauna of the Ross Sea: species richness and composition across the shelf break, slope and abyss

“…Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that this observed pattern might be different for each taxonomic group or region studied (Kaiser et al 2011;McCallum et al 2015). For example, Linse et al (2007) has demonstrated that benthic macrofauna in the Weddell Sea between 1000 and 5000 m varied between the sites but not with depth. Further research should include the problems of specificity of species composition, proper assessment of the role of rare species and patterns associated with diversity of various microhabitats which is not possible in case of samples collected with use of sampling gear like an epibenthic sled or various types of dredges.…”