Deep-sea pycnogonids from the North Atlantic and their distribution in the World Ocean

Abstract

The information on the composition and distribution of present-day pycnogonids in different regions of the World Ocean and, especially, in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean acquired during the past decades allowed us to perform a biogeographical analysis of these animals, which represent a permanent component of bottom communities. For 34 species of sea spiders (Pycnogonida) found in the North Atlantic deeper than 2 km, ten types of geographical distribution were recognized. Half of the species identified represent Atlantic forms, and 41% of them are endemic forms with West-Atlantic, East-Atlantic, amphi-Atlantic, and central-Atlantic distributions. The other half of the deep-sea Atlantic species have broad geographical ranges. Among them, 11.7% are Atlantic-Pacific species, 14.7% dwell in the Atlantic and West Pacific, 8.9% are low-latitudinal panocaanic species, and 14.7% are panoceanic species able to penetrate to higher latitudes. The zoogeographical species composition shows a significant independence of this fauna in the northern Atlantic Ocean and its relation to the Pacific and Indian oceans. At present, these relations are probably maintained via the temperate latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere and via the Drake Passage; meanwhile, it seems that, previously, they were realized possibly via the ancient Tethys Ocean.