Fish assemblages in the Barents Sea

Abstract

Fish species inhabiting the Barents Sea display great seasonal and inter-annual variation in abundance and distribution. This study describes the assemblages and distributions of fish species in the southwestern and central part of the Barents Sea, which includes the polar front. The area has an unpredictable environment due to variable inflow of Atlantic water and fish species composition differs between Arctic and Atlantic water masses. Assemblages can be identified as distinct groups corresponding to different environmental conditions. In the period 1997–1999, 57 fish species and shrimp were identified and 29 species/species groups were used in the statistical analyses. Cluster and correspondence analyses showed that the fish community consists of four assemblages: a northern, a southern, a deep and a central group. Temperature explained 26.2% of the variation in the species data, and depth 14.5% of the variation. The assemblages are coherent with previous zoogeographical studies from the Barents Sea. To reduce research costs, one might monitor indicator species characteristic for the identified fish assemblages. Fish assemblages may be a good tool when studying ecosystem responses to fishery and marine climate change.