Macrofaunal abundance at 79°N off East Greenland: opposing data from epibenthic-sledge and box-corer samples

Abstract

During the expedition ARK XI-2 with RV Polarstern in September/October 1995, a transect of samples was taken off East Greenland from the shelf down to about 1800 m depth by means of an epibenthic sledge and a giant box corer, in order to obtain information on epibenthic and endobenthic macrofauna. Within the epibenthic sledge catches, the Cumacea were the most numerous taxon with 32,123 (always calculated for 1000 m) specimens, followed by the Isopoda with 26,914 specimens, and Amphipoda with 20,900; Mysidacea and Tanaidacea were less important. Amphipoda were the most numerous taxon on the shelf, while with increasing depth Isopoda and especially Cumacea became increasingly important. Macrofauna analysed from the box-corer samples decreased in abundance with depth. The highest macrofaunal abundance was found on the shelf, with 8128 ind. m−2 (200 m); below this depth, density decreased from ≈2000 ind. m−2 (at 800 m) to ≈800 ind. m−2 (2000 m). Peracarid crustaceans and polychaetes were, next to bivalves, the most frequent. Polychaetes clearly dominated the shelf communities; their relative percentage decreased with increasing water depth while the relative percentage of Peracarida increased simultaneously. Interestingly, the highest number of peracarids in the epibenthic-sledge samples was reported from deep sea, while box-corer samples showed decreasing macrofaunal abundance with depth. The relative percentage of peracarids in the box-corer samples increased with depth, while in absolute numbers, peracarids from these samples were also highest on the shelf at about 200 m depth.