Abstract
Brittle stars are one of the leading components of the benthic communities in the Kara Sea. The fauna of the Kara Sea brittle stars is represented by 12 species. Ophiocten sericeum (Forbes, 1852), Ophiopleura borealis Danielssen et Koren, 1877, Ophiacantha bidentata (Bruzelius, 1805), and Ophioscolex glacialis Müller et Troschel, 1842 are most widespread within the sea. Based on the available data, distribution maps for each species were constructed. A comparative analysis of the Barents Sea, the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea fauna was carried out. It was found that during evolution the fauna of Kara Sea brittle stars at the genus level was under balanced influence of autochthonous and allochthons processes; at the species level the autochthonous processes were predominant. The obtained value of the taxonomic uniqueness index characterizes the fauna of the Kara Sea brittle stars as quite isolated at all taxonomic levels. Six biogeographic groups were distinguished in the biogeographic structure of the fauna of the sea, of which the boreal-Arctic and high-boreal-Arctic forms are the most represented. The use of the Jaccard species similarity coefficients and Pearson correlation showed that the greatest similarity at the species level is observed between the Kara and the Laptev seas.
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