Benthos (original) (raw)

Box 3.3.1: Benthic macro-and megafauna Distribution of major benthic invertebrate groups in the Arctic Arthropods (e.g., shrimps, crabs, sea spiders, amphipods, isopods) dominate taxon numbers in all Arctic regions, followed by polychaetes (e.g., bristle worms) and mollusks (e.g., gastropods, bivalves). Other taxon groups are diverse in some regions, such as bryozoans in the Kara Sea, cnidarians in the Atlantic Arctic, and foraminiferans in the Arctic deep-sea basins. This pattern is biased, however, by the meiofauna inclusion for the Arctic Basin (macro-and meiofauna size ranges overlap substantially in deep-sea fauna, so nematodes and foraminiferans are included) and the influence of a lack of specialists for some difficult taxonomic groups. Box figure 3.3.1 Regional pie charts showing the species/taxon number (in brackets) per region and the relative proportion of certain taxa in species richness. Regions have been sampled with one or several types of sampling gears, including different grabs, sledges and trawls, but also subjected to different levels of taxonomic resolution for the different taxon groups.