Biodiversity and structure of the suprabenthic assemblages from South Shetland Islands and Bransfield Strait, Southern Ocean

Spatial variation in seabed temperatures in the Southern Ocean: Implications for benthic ecology and biogeography

“…The spatial distribution of seabed temperatures in the northern WAP shelf would thus lead to a prediction that the benthic assemblages of the Bransfield Strait, where the seabed is very cold because of the influence of water from the Weddell Sea, should be different from those of the shelf at the same latitude but outside the South Shetland Islands, which is warmed by CDW. There are few studies of the benthic fauna of the Bransfield Strait, particularly to the north where the influence of Weddell Seawaters would be expected to be greatest, but preliminary data do suggest marked differences between the fauna of Bransfield Strait and the continental shelf outside the South Shetland Islands [ Arnaud et al , 2001; San Vicente et al , 2007]. There is an increasing interest in the development of an objective classification of provinces or bioregions within the global ocean [ Longhurst , 1998; Spalding et al , 2007], and also recently within Antarctica itself [ Beaman and Harris , 2005; Grant et al , 2006].…”

A revision of the deep-sea genus Axiokebuita Pocklington and Fournier, 1987 (Annelida: Scalibregmatidae)

“…The high selectivity in the fauna collected by the suprabenthic sledge, primarily used to study of the suprabenthic community (mostly peracarid crustaceans; San ), but also capable of collecting the first few centimeters of sediment, makes it very suitable for the capture of Axiokebuita. Suprabenthic sledges have so far not been very widely used, mainly in the European region (Mees & Hammerlynck 1992;San Vicente et al 1993;Dauvin et al 1994) and Antarctica (San Vicente et al 2007. It is likely that a more widespread use of this gear may result in a different picture of the distribution of the genus Axiokebuita.…”

“…A total of 13 stations located in the Bellingshausen Sea and Antarctic Peninsula were sampled using a modified version (Cartes et al 1994) of the Macer-GIROQ suprabenthic sled (Brunel et al 1978;Dauvin & Lorgere 1989). Description of sampling methodology can be found in San Vicente et al (2007) and Corbera et al (2009). Data concerning sampling positions, dates and water depth are reported in Table I.…”

Cold Comfort: Systematics and Biology of Antarctic Bryozoans

“…Shallow shelf environments (less than 500 m) in many areas of the Antarctic are dominated by communities made up largely of sessile suspension feeders like sponges, bryozoans, hydroids, gorgonians, and tunicates, whose colonies may form dense thicket-like growths spreading over large areas of the sea bottom (Belyaev, 1958;Uschakov, 1963;Propp, 1970;White and Robins, 1972;Barnes, 1995bBarnes, , 1995cSaíz-Salinas et al, 1997;Saíz-Salinas and Ramos, 1999;San Vincente et al, 2007). In contrast to epifaunal communities elsewhere, which are mostly limited to hard substrata, such communities in Antarctica commonly rest on or are rooted in soft sediments or are attached to scattered rocks and pebbles.…”