Harpacticoida (Copepoda) fauna and the taxocenes structure of brackish lagoons and estuaries of the Russian far east

Abstract

On the basis of original data and literature sources, the species composition of Harpacticoida (Copepoda) in the plankton of the brackish waters of four Far Eastern regions was described: Khabarovsk krai, Sakhalin Island, Kamchatka Peninsula, and the Commander Islands. The compiled list includes 32 harpacticoid species of 22 genera and 10 families. The representatives of the typical brackish families Canthocamptidae and Ectinosomatidae account for about one-third of the total. Six of the species are new to science: 4 species of Halectinosoma, Amphiascus sp. 1, and Schizopera sp. 1. Cosmopolitan species constitute the major portion of the fauna (38% of the total number), while a smaller proportion is typical of endemics (25%), as well as species with the arctic (12%), tropical (9%), and North American (9%) types of areas. There are 17 types of harpacticoid taxocenes of the observed water bodies. Also, the influence of the salinity and temperature on these species complexes was characterized. The hypotheses about the cosmopolitanism of the brackish water fauna and the intrazonality of the estuarine harpacticoid taxocenes structure were tested. It is shown that the structure of the genera dominance in the taxocenes allocated for the temperature latitudes of the Far East demonstrates significant similarity with the arctic and tropical regions.