Abstract
We report the first records of a decapod species (Eualus gaimardii gibba) in association with Arctic multiyear sea-ice. Seven specimens inhabiting brine channels in the ice were collected during two field campaigns (September 2003, March/April 2004) by diver operated suction samplers. Salinity tolerance experiments (14–50 PSU) suggest that the species is stenohaline. Gut examinations revealed remains of the sympagic amphipod Gammarus wilkitzkii. All collected individuals were found in ice above relatively shallow waters (60–100 m depth) suggesting bentho-sympagic coupling.
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Acknowledgments
Lionel Camus was funded by the Norwegian Research Council under the program “Marine Resource, Environment and Management”, project no. 146478/120 and by the Norwegian marine research laboratory RF-Akvamiljø. We are grateful to the crew of the research vessel Jan Mayen for sampling organisms, and to Cedric d’Udekem d’Acoz for his constructive comments on earlier versions of the manuscript.
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Nygård, H., Berge, J., Gulliksen, B. et al. The occurrence of Eualus gaimardii gibba Krøyer 1841 (Crustacea, Decapoda) in the sympagic habitat: an example of bentho-sympagic coupling. Polar Biol 30, 1351–1354 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-007-0302-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-007-0302-2