Sampling information on lysianassoid amphipod crustaceans from the expedition PS82 (ANT-XXIX/9) to the Filchner area, Weddell Sea, Antarctica in 2013/2014

• Main Author: Havermans, Charlotte
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2017
• Subjects: Agassiz Trawl; AGT; ANT-XXIX/9; Bottom trawl; BT; DATE/TIME; DEPTH; water; Device type; Dredge; Rauschert; Event label; Latitude of event; Longitude of event; Number of specimens; Polarstern; Priority Programme 1158 Antarctic Research with Comparable Investigations in Arctic Sea Ice Areas; PS82; PS82/007-1; PS82/011-1; PS82/043-1; PS82/050-1; PS82/091-1; PS82/097-1; PS82/118-1; PS82/127-1; PS82/166-1; PS82/176-1; PS82/227-1; PS82/251-1; PS82/284-1; PS82/293-1; PS82/295-1; PS82/307-1; PS82/314-1; PS82/331-1; PS82/349-1; PS82/351-1; RD; Rectangular midwater trawl; RMT; Species; SPP1158; Trap; fish; TRAPF; Weddell Sea; Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctica; Filchner Ronne Ice Shelf; Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf; Ice Shelf; Polar Biology; Ronne Ice Shelf; Sea ice; Southern Ocean
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.881161; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.881161

An integrative inventory, combining morphological identifications with DNA barcoding, of the amphipod scavenging fauna (Lysianassoidea) of the Filchner area in the south-eastern Weddell Sea is provided here. This understudied area, neighbouring the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, represents a key oceanographic region for the global circulation but is, however, likely to be impacted by a myriad of consequences of warming waters. It also represents a biological hotspot and therefore, this area has been recently included as a candidate for a Marine Protected Area in the Southern Ocean (Weddell Sea MPA). Over 4400 lysianassoids were investigated for species richness and abundances at 20 different stations using different sampling devices, including the southernmost baited traps deployed so far (76°S). A high species richness was observed: 29 morphospecies of which five were new to science. Molecular species delimitation methods indicated the presence of 42 lineages; for four species, several (cryptic) lineages were found. More than 96% of the lysianassoids collected with a baited trap belonged to the species Orchomenella pinguides s.l. The diversity of the amphipod scavenger guild in this ice-bound ecosystem of the Weddell Sea is discussed in the light of bottom-up selective forces. Harbouring spawning and nursery grounds for silverfish and icefishes, which are preyed upon by seal species, abundant fish and mammalian food falls are likely to represent the major food for scavengers in this southernmost part of the Weddell Sea. Finally, the importance of such biodiversity surveys to better understand the ecological role of scavengers in this system is highlighted.