Soft-sediment crustacean diversity and distribution along the Portuguese continental shelf

Abstract

International audienceThis study analyzed the crustacean diversity, distribution and relationship with environmental factors in the western and the southern Portuguese continental shelf, between 10 and 200 m depth. A total of 10,639 specimens belonging to 242 taxa from 90 families were identified, mostly amphipods (55.8% of the total taxa). The mysid Gastrosaccus spinifer and the amphipods Socarnes erythrophthalmus and Cheirocratus sundevallii were the most abundant and the amphipods Ampelisca brevicornis, Leucothoe incisa and Autonoe spiniventris were the most frequent species. The highest abundance and diversity was found in coarser sediments with up to 306 individuals per 0.1 m2. Alpha diversity ranged from 1 to 28 sp./0.1 m2. Moreover, this study confirmed six previously doubtful first records and added an additional 19 new records to the Portuguese fauna. The results also confirmed the Portuguese coast as a transition zone of mixed Atlantic and Mediterranean faunas and exposed a noticeable North African and Macaronesian influence. A multivariate analysis based on the abundance of crustaceans revealed six affinity groups characterized by: (a) C. sundevallii, Guernea (Guernea) coalita and Sarsinebalia cristoboi on very coarse sands; (b) G. spinifer, Nototropis falcatus and Pontocrates arenarius on coarse sands; (c) Othomaera othonis, Processa modica modica and Animoceradocus semiserratus on heterogeneous medium sands; (d) A. brevicornis, Urothoe pulchella and Necalianassa truncata on fine sands; (e) Ampelisca pectenata, Bodotria scorpioides and Astacilla dilatata on heterogeneous fine sands and (f) Callianassa subterranea, Ampelisca tenuicornis and Ampelisca typica on muddy fine sands. Sediment grain-size and depth were the variables best related to the benthic crustacean spatial distribution patterns along the Portuguese continental shelf

Updating changes in the Iberian decapod crustacean fauna (excluding crabs) after 50 years

“…New references for different geographic sectors have been given by Ingle (1993), García Raso (1982aRaso ( , 1984bRaso ( , 1985c, and the ECO-MARG (IEO) 2005 and 2006 Expeditions, among others (see Appendix 1). Seven species of pagurids have been added since Zariquiey Álvarez (1968): Anapagurus alboranensis, described from the Alboran Sea by García-Gómez (1994) and later recorded in the Gulf of Cádiz (Manjón-Cabeza and García Raso 1998) and along the Spanish Mediterranean coasts (Macpherson and Raventos 2004); Anapagurus pusillus, captured in Atlantic waters in southern and western Portugal (García-Gómez 1994, Sampaio et al 2016 and in northern Spain (Cantabria, ECOMARG IEO, Serrano et al 2006); Catapaguroides iris, captured in the Gulf of Cádiz (one specimen from INDEMARES-Chica 0211, García Raso unpublished data), previously known in Azores and the north of Morocco (Ingle 1993; Pagurus pseudosculptimanus, described by García Muñoz et al (2014) and recorded in the Alboran Sea; the African Pagurus mbizi, which is penetrating into the Mediterranean through the Alboran Sea (García Raso et al 2014b); Pagurus pubescentulus, recorded in Cantabria (IEO ECOMARG, Serrano et al 2006); and Michelopagurus atlanticus, a deep-sea (790-1575 m according to Lemaitre and Tavares 2015) amphi-Atlantic species recently found off Aveiro, Costa de Prata (western Portugal) at a much shallower depth (41 m) by Sampaio et al (2016), which is noteworthy. Also, the occurrence of Anapagurus smythi Ingle, 1993 in the Cantabrian Sea (IEO ECOMARG http://www.…”

Taxonomy and Ecology of Sympatric Ampelisca Species (Crustacea, Amphipoda) From the Strait of Gibraltar to the Strait of Dover, North-Eastern Atlantic

“…A. pectenata showed also a large distribution but was absent in Galicia and Southern Spain. Twelve species were recorded only in the southern part of the study area; most were Mediterranean and recorded in the Atlantic up to the southern coast of Portugal, in Algarve Bellan-Santini, 1991, 1993;Sampaio et al, 2016): A. anophthalma, A. calypsonis, A. dalmatina, A. latifrons, A. lusitanica, A. massiliensis, A. multispinosa, A. provincialis, A. pseudosarsi, A; pseudospinima, A. ruffoi and A. verga.…”

“…Portuguese Continental Shelf A total of 326 sites were visited during sampling campaigns with a 0.1 m² Smith McIntyre grab (one grab per site) conducted on the entire Portuguese continental shelf from Caminha on the Northwest, to Vila Real de Santo António on the Southeast (Martins et al, 2012(Martins et al, , 2013a(Martins et al, ,b, 2014Sampaio et al, 2016). The shallow and mid depth north-western shelf and areas located close to the major submarine canyons are characterized by coarser sediments with low fines and organic matter content, whereas the south-western and the deep north-western shelf are dominated by fine sands with moderate fines and organic matter content.…”

“…According to their occurrences, the species were classified in three categories, (1) rare, corresponding to species recorded at up to 10 sites, (2) common, corresponding to species recorded in numerous soft-bottom sites mainly from muddy to sandy sediment, and (3) very common, for species recorded in most of the sampled soft-bottom South Spain: Bellan-Santini and Dauvin (1988b); Portugal: Bellan-Santini and Dauvin (1988b); Sampaio et al (2016); Galicia: Bellan-Santini and Dauvin (1988b); SE Bay of Biscay: Bachelet et al (2003); South Brittany: Bellan-Santini and Dauvin (1988b); Iroise Sea: Dauvin and Toulemont (1988); Western part of the English Channel: Bellan-Santini and Dauvin (1988bDauvin ( , 1989, Dauvin (1999), Le Mao (2006), and Eastern part of the English Channel: Dauvin (1999), Alizier (2011), Baux et al (2017) and Andres et al (2020).…”

“…Recent benthic sampling campaigns on the Portuguese continental shelf (Martins et al, 2012(Martins et al, , 2013a(Martins et al, ,b, 2014Sampaio et al, 2016) and in the English Channel, i.e., in the Rade de Cherbourg (Baux et al, 2017;Andres et al, 2020) and in the Bay of Seine (Alizier, 2011), permit to revisit the available data on the taxonomy, distribution and ecology of the Ampelisca species along the North Eastern Atlantic, from the Strait of Gibraltar, in the South to the Strait of Dover, in the North.…”