Abstract
A synthesis on species composition and biogeography of benthic polychaetes off Terra Nova Bay is presented, together with a discussion on the main pattern of species distribution, and structure of both soft- and hard-bottom assemblages. A total of 132 species of polychaetes (29 families) were found at Terra Nova Bay, 46 of which (including some new taxa) were recorded for the first time in the Ross Sea. Considering previous historical and more recent systematic and ecological studies on polychaetes, a total of 235 species (33 families) are to date known for the whole Ross Sea. From a biogeographical point of view, a literature comparison on 108 taxa revealed that 31% of the species found at Terra Nova Bay are composed of truly Antarctic species (7% of which are endemic to the Ross Sea), 39% by Antarctic-sub-Antarctic, 12% by austral hemisphere, and 10% by cosmopolitan species, while 8% showed a disjunct distribution, occurring also in Arctic and other boreal areas. From a quantitative view point, only a few species were numerically dominant: Tharyx cincinnatus, Spiophanes tcherniai, Laonice weddellia, Leitoscoloplos mawsoni, Aglaophamus trissophyllus and Maldane sarsi antarctica in the soft bottoms; Harmothoe spinosa, Kefersteinia fauveli and Pionosyllis comosa on the shallow hard bottoms. Both poorly and well-structured poly-chaete assemblages occurred along the bay, mainly related to the degree of physical disturbance and bottom-sediment complexity. As regards the ecological role of polychaetes in the benthic system of the bay, their classification into feeding guilds revealed the occurrence of various feeding types with different distribution according to biotope and depth: carnivores (mainly poly-noids and nephtyids) dominated hard bottoms, while deposit feeders dominated soft bottoms; among these, limivores (mainly maldanids and capitellids) showed an increase with depth. These latter forms have a strong potential for bioturbation of superficial sediments. Finally, gut content analysis of some nototheniid fishes (Trematomus spp.) revealed that polychaetes, both epifaunal, such as Barrukia cristata and tube-dwelling, such as ampharetids, are largely consumed by these bottom predators. Burrow-dwelling species are more rarely preyed upon, but, when present, they represent useful indicators of the feeding habits of fish.
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Cantone, G., Castelli, A., Gambi, M.C. (2000). Benthic Polychaetes off Terra Nova Bay and Ross Sea: Species Composition, Biogeography, and Ecological Role. In: Faranda, F.M., Guglielmo, L., Ianora, A. (eds) Ross Sea Ecology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-59607-0_40
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-59607-0_40
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