Distribution of Larvae of Burrowing Shrimps of Infraorders Gebiidea and Axiidea in the Vostok Bay (Sea of Japan)

Abstract

The seasonal occurrence and distribution of the pelagic larvae of large burrowing shrimps of infraorders Gebiidea and Axiidea, leading a hidden lifestyle, were studied in the Vostok Bay (Peter the Great Bay, the Sea of Japan) from May through September 2014. Zoea of the burrowing shrimps were found from the end of May to the end of September, at a water temperature of 12.3–23.4оС, reaching a total abundance of 15.5 ± 0.28 ind/m3 in the first half of July. Larvae of three Gebiidea species and five Axiidea species were found. In the early summer, the cyclonic circulation of water contributed to the concentration of larvae of shallow-water species in the apex of the Vostok Bay. The late heating of the water was likely the reason for the later larvae hatching in the western and eastern parts of the bay. The larvae of deeper-water species occurred mainly in the western part of the Vostok Bay. In the second half of summer, under the influence of the surface current moving along the western shore, as well as under the river runoff, the larvae were concentrated southwards, in the Srednyaya Inlet and near Cape Pushchin. The anticyclonic gyre, formed southwestwards off Cape Peshchurov in southerly winds, likely prevented the transport of larvae of shallow-water shrimp species from the bay.