Annelid Fauna of the Prince Gustav Channel, a Previously Ice-Covered Seaway on the Northeastern Antarctic Peninsula
Annelid Fauna of the Prince Gustav Channel, a Previously Ice-Covered Seaway on the Northeastern Antarctic Peninsula
The Prince Gustav Channel is a narrow seaway located in the western Weddell Sea on the northeastern-most tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. The channel is notable for both its deep (>1200 m) basins, and a dynamic glacial history that most recently includes the break-up of the Prince Gustav Ice Shelf, which covered the southern portion of the channel until its collapse in 1995. However, the channel remains mostly unsampled, with very little known about its benthic biology. We present a preliminary account of the benthic annelid fauna of the Prince Gustav Channel in addition to samples from Duse Bay, a sheltered, glacier-influenced embayment in the northwestern portion of the channel. Samples were collected using an Agassiz Trawl, targeting megafaunal and large macrofaunal sized animals at depths ranging between 200–1200 m; the seafloor and associated fauna were also documented in situ using a Shallow Underwater Camera System (SUCS). Sample sites varied in terms of depth, substrate type, and current regime, and communities were locally variable across sites in terms of richness, abundance, and both taxonomic and functional composition. The most diverse family included the motile predator/scavenger Polynoidae, with 105 individuals in at least 12 morphospecies, primarily from a single site. This study provides first insights into diverse and spatially heterogeneous benthic communities in a dynamic habitat with continuing glacial influence, filling sampling gaps in a poorly studied region of the Southern Ocean at direct risk from climate change. These specimens will also be utilized in future molecular investigations, both in terms of describing the genetic biodiversity of this site and as part of wider phylogeographic and population genetic analyses assessing the connectivity, evolutionary origins, and demographic history of annelid fauna in the region.
benthic, morphology, polychaeta, Southern Ocean, species checklist, taxonomy, Weddell Sea
Drennan, Regan
f810f4e7-de45-4174-9fbc-d3f8062c9c41
Dahlgren, Thomas G.
35e04ba6-303d-44d0-ae60-f434977dc0ff
Linse, Katrin
74d7ddc0-74a1-4777-ac1d-3f39ae1935ad
Glover, Adrian G.
91192a3a-fc25-4c1f-b062-2e4da183272e
8 January 2021
Drennan, Regan
f810f4e7-de45-4174-9fbc-d3f8062c9c41
Dahlgren, Thomas G.
35e04ba6-303d-44d0-ae60-f434977dc0ff
Linse, Katrin
74d7ddc0-74a1-4777-ac1d-3f39ae1935ad
Glover, Adrian G.
91192a3a-fc25-4c1f-b062-2e4da183272e
Drennan, Regan, Dahlgren, Thomas G., Linse, Katrin and Glover, Adrian G.
(2021)
Annelid Fauna of the Prince Gustav Channel, a Previously Ice-Covered Seaway on the Northeastern Antarctic Peninsula.
Frontiers in Marine Science, 7, [595303].
(doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.595303).
Abstract
The Prince Gustav Channel is a narrow seaway located in the western Weddell Sea on the northeastern-most tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. The channel is notable for both its deep (>1200 m) basins, and a dynamic glacial history that most recently includes the break-up of the Prince Gustav Ice Shelf, which covered the southern portion of the channel until its collapse in 1995. However, the channel remains mostly unsampled, with very little known about its benthic biology. We present a preliminary account of the benthic annelid fauna of the Prince Gustav Channel in addition to samples from Duse Bay, a sheltered, glacier-influenced embayment in the northwestern portion of the channel. Samples were collected using an Agassiz Trawl, targeting megafaunal and large macrofaunal sized animals at depths ranging between 200–1200 m; the seafloor and associated fauna were also documented in situ using a Shallow Underwater Camera System (SUCS). Sample sites varied in terms of depth, substrate type, and current regime, and communities were locally variable across sites in terms of richness, abundance, and both taxonomic and functional composition. The most diverse family included the motile predator/scavenger Polynoidae, with 105 individuals in at least 12 morphospecies, primarily from a single site. This study provides first insights into diverse and spatially heterogeneous benthic communities in a dynamic habitat with continuing glacial influence, filling sampling gaps in a poorly studied region of the Southern Ocean at direct risk from climate change. These specimens will also be utilized in future molecular investigations, both in terms of describing the genetic biodiversity of this site and as part of wider phylogeographic and population genetic analyses assessing the connectivity, evolutionary origins, and demographic history of annelid fauna in the region.
More information
Published date: 8 January 2021
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
We would like to thank the Master and crew of RRS James Clark Ross and the scientific and technical participants of JR17003a for their support. Special thanks to Simon Dreuter for providing the bathymetric map. A special thank you also to Anton Van de Putte for their great assistance and guidance throughout the process of publishing data through biodiversity.aq. The fieldwork in the western Weddell Sea during JR17003a was undertaken under the permit No. 43/2017 issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London to section 3 of the Antarctic Act 1994. Funding. This work was supported by the National Environment Research Council grants: RD has support by the NERC INSPIRE DTP (NE/S007210/1). KL is part of the British Antarctic Survey?s Polar Science for Planet Earth Programme (NC-Science). TD was funded by the Norwegian Research Centre NORCE and the RSS James Clark Ross expedition JR17003a was funded by the NERC urgency grant NE/R012296/1 and enabled the participation of KL, AG, and TD.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Environment Research Council grants: RD has support by the NERC INSPIRE DTP (NE/S007210/1). KL is part of the British Antarctic Survey’s Polar Science for Planet Earth Programme (NC-Science). TD was funded by the Norwegian Research Centre NORCE and the RSS James Clark Ross expedition JR17003a was funded by the NERC urgency grant NE/R012296/1 and enabled the participation of KL, AG, and TD.
Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2021 Drennan, Dahlgren, Linse and Glover.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords:
benthic, morphology, polychaeta, Southern Ocean, species checklist, taxonomy, Weddell Sea
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 452127
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/452127
ISSN: 2296-7745
PURE UUID: 56d79500-cb4e-4e3d-ad93-09de49eea357
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Date deposited: 25 Nov 2021 17:00
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 03:53
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Contributors
Author:
Thomas G. Dahlgren
Author:
Katrin Linse
Author:
Adrian G. Glover
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