Macrofaunal communities and sediment structure across the Pakistan margin Oxygen Minimum Zone, North-East Arabian Sea

Abstract

Abstract Benthic macrofauna and sediment column features were sampled at five stations along a bathymetric transect (depths 140, 300, 940, 1200, 1850 m) through the Pakistan margin Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ) during the 2003 intermonsoon (March–May) and late-post-monsoon (August–October) periods. Objectives were to compare patterns with those described from other OMZs, particularly the Oman margin of the Arabian Sea, in order to assess the relative influence of bottom-water oxygenation and sediment organic content on macrofaunal standing stock and community structure. Macrofaunal density was highest at the 140-m station subject to monsoon-driven shoaling of the OMZ, but there was no elevation of density at the lower OMZ boundary (1200 m). Numbers was extremely low in the OMZ core (300 m) and were not readily explicable from the environmental data. There was no consistent depth-related trend in macrofaunal biomass. Macrofaunal densities were consistently lower than found off Oman but there was less contrast in biomass. A significant post-monsoon decline in macrofaunal density at 140 m was driven by selective loss of polychaete taxa. Polychaeta was the most abundant major taxon at all stations but did not dominate the macrofaunal community to the extent reported from Oman. Cirratulidae and Spionidae were major components of the polychaete fauna at most stations but Acrocirridae, Ampharetidae, Amphinomidae and Cossuridae were more important at 940 m. Polychaete assemblages at each station were almost completely distinct at the species level. Polychaete species richness was positively correlated with bottom-water dissolved oxygen and negatively correlated with sediment TOC, C:N ratio and total phytopigments. Community dominance showed the opposite pattern. The strongly inverse correlation between oxygen and measures of sediment organic content made it difficult to distinguish their relative effects. The strongly laminated sediments in the OMZ core contrasted with the homogeneous, heavily bioturbated sediments above and below this zone but were associated with minimal macrofaunal biomass rather than distinctive functional group composition. In general, data from the Oman margin were weak predictors of patterns seen off Pakistan, and results suggest the importance of local factors superimposed on the broader trends of macrofaunal community composition in OMZs.