ArticlePDF Available

New data on the taxonomic composition of macroinvertebrates in marine habitats from the Livingston Island, Antarctica

Authors:
Lyubomir Kenderov at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski"
Lyubomir Kenderov
Vesela Evtimova at Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Vesela Evtimova
  • Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Plamen G. Mitov at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski"
Plamen G. Mitov
Apostol Apostolov at Prof. Assen Zlatarov University
Apostol Apostolov
Show all 6 authorsHide
Download full-text PDF
Read full-text
Download citation

Abstract

Antarctic marine organisms are characterised by a significant level of endemism. This is due to geological, climatological and oceanographic reasons, such as the break-up of Antarctida from Gondwana during the Cretaceous; the formation of a circumpolar current; the extremely low water temperatures (close to freezing); the short summer seasons. The South Shetland Islands (West Antarctic Peninsula) are one of 29 known biogeographic areas in the Southern Hemisphere (Griffiths et al. 2009). King George Island is the largest island from the South Shetlands and eight countries have their polar bases there. Marine bottom macroinvertebrates from the surrounding seawaters are very well studied (Siciński et al. 2011). Less research was carried out in the region of the nearby Livingston Island. There are located two polar bases: "St. Kliment Ohridski" (Bulgaria) and "Juan Carlos I" (Spain). We can assume that in the seawaters of the South Bay we can also expect a rich bottom macroinvertebrate fauna because of the similar conditions and the close distance between the two islands. The aim of this study is to present the first Bulgarian results on the taxonomic composition of marine macroinvertebrates from the South Bay, Livingston Island. The samples were collected during the XXVII th Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition (2018–2019 austral summer). Various sites in four areas were sampled: the coastal zone in front of the Bulgarian Polar Base (Costa Bulgara); a small bay south of Cape Hesperides (Reservnoto port); Johnsons Dock Bay near the Spanish research station and Walker Bay near Hannah Point. Samples were collected mainly through bottom trawling at depths of 2 to 20 meters on different types of bottom substrates using Zodiac boats. A total of 11 macrozoobenthos samples were collected. Our preliminary results show that the main macrozoobenthic species are well known in the seawaters of the South Shetlands and usually they have a circumpolar distribution. At the site with soft muddy bottoms (Johnsons Dock Bay), the corrugated ribbon worm Parborlasia corrugatus (McIntosh, 1876) (order Heteronemertea, class Pilidiophora, phylum Nemertea) as well as ascidians (order Phlebobranchia, class Ascidiacea, phylum Chordata) had the highest biomass. The most abundant in the Johnsons Dock Bay were the Antarctic bivalve Aequiyoldia eightsii (Jay, 1839) (order Nuculanida, class Bivalvia, phylum Mollusca); the scale worm Barrukia cristata (Willey, 1902) and the catworm Aglaophamus trissophyllus (Grube, 1877) (both of order Phyllodocida, class Polychaeta, phyllum Annelida). The seroid isopod Spinoserolis beddardi (Calman, 1920) (order Isopoda, class Malacostraca, phyllum Arthropoda) dominated in the muddy / sandy bottom of Hannah Point. The habitats of the rocky bottom (Costa Bulgara) were inhabited mainly by crustaceans (order Aphipoda, class Malacostraca, phyllum Arthropoda) and gastropods (phylum Mollusca). In the tidal zone of this habitat (0–2m), the predominant species was the Antarctic limplet Nacella concinna (Strebel, 1908) (order Patellogastropoda, class Gastropoda, phylum Mollusca).
Access to this full-text is provided by Pensoft Publishers.
Learn more
Content available from ARPHA Conference Abstracts
This content is subject to copyright. Terms and conditions apply.
ARPHA Conference Abstracts 2: e46493
doi: 10.3897/aca.2.e46493
Conference Abstract
New data on the taxonomic composition of
macroinvertebrates in marine habitats from the
Livingston Island, Antarctica
Lyubomir A Kenderov , Vesela V Evtimova , Plamen G Mitov , Apostol M Apostolov , Eliza P
Uzunova , Marian A Kenderov
‡ Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", Faculty of Biology, Sofia, Bulgaria
§ Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
| University "Prof. d-r Asen Zlatarov", Burgas, Bulgaria
Corresponding author: Lyubomir A Kenderov (lubomir.kenderov@gmail.com)
Received: 11 Sep 2019 | Published: 11 Sep 2019
Citation: Kenderov LA, Evtimova VV, Mitov PG, Apostolov AM, Uzunova EP, Kenderov MA (2019) New data on the
taxonomic composition of macroinvertebrates in marine habitats from the Livingston Island, Antarctica. ARPHA
Conference Abstracts 2: e46493. https://doi.org/10.3897/aca.2.e46493
Abstract
Antarctic marine organisms are characterised by a significant level of endemism. This is
due to geological, climatological and oceanographic reasons, such as the break-up of
Antarctida from Gondwana during the Cretaceous; the formation of a circumpolar current;
the extremely low water temperatures (close to freezing); the short summer seasons. The
South Shetland Islands (West Antarctic Peninsula) are one of 29 known biogeographic
areas in the Southern Hemisphere (Griffiths et al. 2009). King George Island is the largest
island from the South Shetlands and eight countries have their polar bases there. Marine
bottom macroinvertebrates from the surrounding seawaters are very well studied (Siciński
et al. 2011). Less research was carried out in the region of the nearby Livingston Island.
There are located two polar bases: "St. Kliment Ohridski" (Bulgaria) and "Juan Carlos I"
(Spain). We can assume that in the seawaters of the South Bay we can also expect a rich
bottom macroinvertebrate fauna because of the similar conditions and the close distance
between the two islands.
The aim of this study is to present the first Bulgarian results on the taxonomic composition
of marine macroinvertebrates from the South Bay, Livingston Island. The samples were
‡ § ‡ |
‡ ‡
© Kenderov L et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC
BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are
credited.
collected during the XXVII Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition (2018–2019 austral summer).
Various sites in four areas were sampled: the coastal zone in front of the Bulgarian Polar
Base (Costa Bulgara); a small bay south of Cape Hesperides (Reservnoto port); Johnsons
Dock Bay near the Spanish research station and Walker Bay near Hannah Point. Samples
were collected mainly through bottom trawling at depths of 2 to 20 meters on different
types of bottom substrates using Zodiac boats. A total of 11 macrozoobenthos samples
were collected.
Our preliminary results show that the main macrozoobenthic species are well known in the
seawaters of the South Shetlands and usually they have a circumpolar distribution. At the
site with soft muddy bottoms (Johnsons Dock Bay), the corrugated ribbon worm
Parborlasia corrugatus (McIntosh, 1876) (order Heteronemertea, class Pilidiophora,
phylum Nemertea) as well as ascidians (order Phlebobranchia, class Ascidiacea, phylum
Chordata) had the highest biomass. The most abundant in the Johnsons Dock Bay were
the Antarctic bivalve Aequiyoldia eightsii (Jay, 1839) (order Nuculanida, class Bivalvia,
phylum Mollusca); the scale worm Barrukia cristata (Willey, 1902) and the catworm
Aglaophamus trissophyllus (Grube, 1877) (both of order Phyllodocida, class Polychaeta,
phyllum Annelida). The seroid isopod Spinoserolis beddardi (Calman, 1920) (order
Isopoda, class Malacostraca, phyllum Arthropoda) dominated in the muddy / sandy bottom
of Hannah Point. The habitats of the rocky bottom (Costa Bulgara) were inhabited mainly
by crustaceans (order Aphipoda, class Malacostraca, phyllum Arthropoda) and gastropods
(phylum Mollusca). In the tidal zone of this habitat (0–2m), the predominant species was
the Antarctic limplet Nacella concinna (Strebel, 1908) (order Patellogastropoda, class
Gastropoda, phylum Mollusca).
Keywords
Maritime Antarctica, macrozoobenthos, meiobenthos, Parborlasia corrugatus, Barrukia
cristata, Nacella concinna, Aequiyoldia eightsii
Presenting author
Lyubomir Angelov Kenderov
Presented at
V International Congress on Biodiversity: „Taxonomy, Speciation and Euro-Mediterranean
Biodiversity“
th
th
2Kenderov L et al
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the people that supported us in the field – Base commander Mr. Y.
Todorov and boatman Pavel Vratchev. We are grateful to all the members of the XXVII
Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition, and personally to the base commander Y. Yordanov and
the team leader prof. Ch. Pimpirev.
Funding program
This study was supported through Project # 80-10-244/31.08.2018, funded by the Polar
Research Fund and managed by Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”.
Author contributions
L.K. - field research, identification of higher crustaceans and writing the abstract; V.E. -
writing the abstract; P.M. - identification of macroinvertebrates; A.A. - writing the abstract;
E. U - writing the abstract; M.K. - laboratory analysis and sample processing.
Conflicts of interest
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.
References
• Griffiths H, Barnes DA, Linse K (2009) Towards a generalized biogeography of the
Southern Ocean benthos. Journal of Biogeography 36: 162‑177. https://doi.org/https://
doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2008.01979.x
• Siciński J, Jażdżewski K, Broyer CD, Presler P, Ligowski R, Nonato E, Corbisier T, Petti M,
Brito TS, Lavrado H, Błażewicz M, Pabis K, Jazdzewska A, Campos LS (2011) Admiralty
Bay benthos diversity—a census of a complex polar ecosystem. Deep-Sea Research II 58
(1-): 30‑48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2010.09.005
th
New data on the taxonomic composition of macroinvertebrates in marine habitats ... 3
Available via license: CC BY 4.0
Content may be subject to copyright.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.
Admiralty Bay Benthos Diversity—A census of a complex polar ecosystem
Article
  • Jan 2011
  • DEEP-SEA RES PT II
A thorough census of Admiralty Bay benthic biodiversity was completed through the synthesis of data, acquired from more than 30 years of observations. Most of the available records arise from successive Polish and Brazilian Antarctic expeditions organized since 1977 and 1982, respectively, but also include new data from joint collecting efforts during the International Polar Year (2007–2009). Geological and hydrological characteristics of Admiralty Bay and a comprehensive species checklist with detailed data on the distribution and nature of the benthic communities are provided. Approximately 1300 species of benthic organisms (excluding bacteria, fungi and parasites) were recorded from the bay’s entire depth range (0–500 m). Generalized classifications and the descriptions of soft-bottom and hard-bottom invertebrate communities are presented. A time-series analysis showed seasonal and interannual changes in the shallow benthic communities, likely to be related to ice formation and ice melt within the bay. As one of the best studied regions in the maritime Antarctic Admiralty Bay represents a legacy site, where continued, systematically integrated data sampling can evaluate the effects of climate change on marine life. Both high species richness and high assemblage diversity of the Admiralty Bay shelf benthic community have been documented against the background of habitat heterogeneity.
View
Towards a generalized biogeography of the Southern Ocean benthos
Article
Aim To investigate whether the biogeographical regions proposed by J. W. Hedgpeth and widely adopted by other authors hold true, are an oversimplification or with further data might show a unified Antarctic province. Location Southern Hemisphere. Methods The distributions of 1318 species of bivalves, 4656 species of gastropods, 1465 species of cheilostome and 167 species of cyclostome bryozoans were analysed for 29 regions in the Southern Hemisphere, including South American, South African, Tasmanian, New Zealand, sub‐Antarctic and Antarctic regions. We present data on species richness, rates of endemism, patterns of radiation, faunal similarities and multivariate biogeographical analyses. Results The most striking pattern to emerge from our data set of species counts per region was a strong east–west hemispheric asymmetry, with high species numbers in New Zealand, Tasmania and South Africa and low numbers in South America. In contrast, no difference was found in richness between the east and west parts of the Southern Ocean. We compared findings in our model taxa with published data on ascidians, cephalopods and pycnogonids. Further evidence of strong faunal links between the Antarctic and South America is reported in this study, although we found little evidence for a biogeographical relationship between the Antarctic or South America and New Zealand/Tasmania. Strong evidence exists for a long‐term influence of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current upon the distribution of Southern Ocean benthos. This is demonstrated by the reduced prevalence of South American species in the Antarctic and sub‐Antarctic with increasing distance from South America in the direction of the current. Three of our four study taxa (bivalves, cheilostomes and cyclostomes) show the Southern Ocean as a ‘single functional unit’ with no evidence for a biogeographical split between east and west. Main conclusions Unlike the biogeographical schemes previously proposed, we show that biogeographical regions in the Southern Ocean differ depending upon the class of animals being considered. Despite this we suggest that some general rules are viable, including species endemism rates of around 50%, a single Antarctic province and a definite distinction between the sub‐Antarctic islands influenced by South America and those of New Zealand.
View