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Occurrence, diversity and community structures of peracarid crustaceans (Crustacea, Malacostraca) along the southern shelf of Greenland

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Abstract

The species composition of peracarids (Crustacea: Malacostraca) of the Greenland shelf between 60°N and 65°N was investigated by means of 10 qualitative epibenthic samples in relation to environmental factors. In total, 59,234 specimens were collected belonging to 219 species. The relative abundance was much higher on the western shelf (total of 41,594 specimens) than on the eastern shelf (total of 17,640 specimens with same effort). Three species were new to science, while five records were new for the investigated area. The species composition was dominated by amphipods (58%), while the relative abundances of isopods (25%), cumaceans (11%) and tanaidaceans (6%) were much lower. Diversity and evenness were similar in the eastern and the western areas. Multivariate analyses of the species relative abundances divided the peracarids into a southeastern and southwestern Greenland fauna. Based on a correlation analysis between faunal data and five environmental variables, the separation between the two areas was mainly based on sediment type. Species contributing most to the separation between eastern and western fauna included the amphipods Hardametopa nasuta, Photis reinhardi and Phoxocephalus holboelli, the isopods Pleurogonium spinosissimum, Iolella laciniata and Nannoniscus oblongus and the cumaceans Leucon cf. nasicoides and Campylaspis horrida. Species distribution patterns are discussed in the light of habitat and feeding preferences.

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Acknowledgments

The epibenthic sampling on FRV Walther Herwig III during the Greenland cruise WH233 was enabled by the Federal Research Centre for Fisheries, Hamburg, Germany. The author would like to thank the crew of FRV Walther Herwig III, Dr. Matthias Stehmann (chief-scientist during WH233), Manfred Stein for oceanographic matters, Jörg Appel and Kay Panten of the Federal Research Centre for Fisheries, Hamburg, Germany for their help with washing the samples on board of RV Walther Herwig III, and Dr. Stefanie Kaiser, Dr. Saskia Brix and Prof. Dr. Jörundur Svavarsson for comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. Additional thanks to Dr. Karen Osborn for improving the English. Thanks to Dr. Christoph Stransky for his endless support during the entire time. This work was partly funded by travel grants of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD, PKZ:D/05/43069) and the ArcOD project within the Census of Marine Life (CoML) programme.

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  1. Biocenter Grindel and Zoological Museum, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King Platz 3, 20146, Hamburg, Germany

    Bente Stransky & Angelika Brandt

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  1. Bente Stransky
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Correspondence to Bente Stransky.

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Table 5 Species list of peracarids sampled at all 10 stations around South Greenland in taxonomic order
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Stransky, B., Brandt, A. Occurrence, diversity and community structures of peracarid crustaceans (Crustacea, Malacostraca) along the southern shelf of Greenland. Polar Biol 33, 851–867 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-010-0785-0

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