Fishing for scavengers: an integrated study to amphipod (Crustacea: Lysianassoidea) diversity of Potter Cove (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica)

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

Amphipoda from the superfamily Lysianassoidea Dana, 1849 play an important role in Southern Ocean benthic food webs due to their high biomass, abundance and predominantly scavenging mode of feeding. Our knowledge on the lysianassoid fauna, even in well-studied areas of the Western Antarctic Peninsula, is incomplete. Here we report the findings of an integrated study of lysianassoid amphipods of Potter Cove, King George Island/Isla 25 de Mayo (KGI), combining morphological and molecular species identification (COI barcoding) methods, investigating more than 41,000 specimens from baited traps. For comparison, 2,039 specimens from the adjacent Marian Cove were analysed. Ten lysianassoid species were recorded in the deeper outer Potter Cove, whereas the inner cove (<50 m) was dominated by a single species, Cheirimedon femoratus Pfeffer, 1888 (99.44% relative abundance). It is hypothesised that the impoverished lysianassoid fauna inside the meltwater-influenced inner cove represents a model for future conditions along the Western Antarctic Peninsula under conditions of increased glacial melting. Abyssorchomene charcoti (Chevreux, 1912) and Orchomenella pinguides Walker, 1903 were recorded in KGI waters for the first time. Furthermore, one new lysianassoid amphipod species of the genus Orchomenella Sars, 1890 is described: Orchomenella infinita sp. n. Seefeldt, 2017. First-time DNA barcode data was established for Cheirimedon femoratus, Hippomedon kergueleni Miers, 1875, Orchomenella rotundifrons K.H. Barnard, 1932 and Orchomenella infinita sp. n.