Depth Distributions of Benthic Polychaetes in Two Fiords on Ellesmere Island, N.W.T.

• Published in: Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada
• Main Author: Curtis, Mark A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1972
• Subjects: General Medicine; Arctic; Ellesmere Island; Tanquary Fiord; Arctic Population
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f72-200; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f72-200

The benthic fauna of Hare and Tanquary fiords was collected in replicate grab samples taken at standardized depths from 6 to 100 m. From this collection, 68 polychaete species were identified. Two of these, Hartmania moorei Pettibone and Zeppelinia monostyla (Zeppelin), have not previously been reported in the Arctic. Population densities of common species demonstrate a marked relation to depth and the distributions of single species were similar in each fiord. Distributions at less than 10 m in Tanquary Fiord appear to be greatly modified by the presence of fiord water, a brackish surface layer formed during the summer ice melt. Among the polychaetes, depth ranges and depths of greatest abundance usually differed and so the species appeared to be scattered along the depth gradient rather than grouped in distinct assemblages.