Meiofauna communities along an abyssal depth gradient in the Drake Passage
Gutzmann, H.E.; Martínez Arbizu, P.; Rose, A.; Veit-Köhler, G. (2004). Meiofauna communities along an abyssal depth gradient in the Drake Passage. Deep-Sea Res., Part 2, Top. Stud. Oceanogr. 51: 1617-1628
In: Deep-Sea Research, Part II. Topical Studies in Oceanography. Pergamon: Oxford. ISSN 0967-0645; e-ISSN 1879-0100
Meiofauna standing stocks and community structure are reported for the first time for abyssalsoft-sediment samples in Antarctic waters. At seven stations within a depth range of 2274-5194m a totalof 128 sediment cores were retrieved with a multiple corer (MUC) on board of the R.V. Polarstern during the ANDEEP-1 cruise (ANT XIX/3). The metazoan meiofauna (defined by a lower size limit of 40 mm) was identified and counted, and one core per station was preserved for CPE, C/N, TOM and grain size analyses. Meiofauna densities are in the range of 2731 Ind./10 cm2 at 2290m depth and 75 Ind./10 cm2 at 3597m depth, with nematodes being the dominant group at all stations. Nematodes account for 84-94% followed by copepods with 2-8% of the total meiofauna. Other frequent taxa found at each station are kinorhynchs, loriciferans, tantulocarids, ostracods and tardigrades. There is a generaltendency of decreasing abundances of metazoan meiofauna with increasing depth, but not all higher level taxa displayed this pattern. In addition, a tendency of decreasing higher taxon density with increasing depth was observed. Standing stocks are higher than the average found at similar depths in other oceans.
