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The Size Structure of Deep-Sea Meiobenthos in the North-Eastern Atlantic: Nematode Size Spectra in Relation to Environmental Variables

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

T. Soltwedel ,
O. Pfannkuche  and
H. Thiel
T. Soltwedel
Affiliation:
Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Columbusstraβe, 27515 Bremerhaven, Germany.
O. Pfannkuche
Affiliation:
Forschungszentrum für Marine Geowissenschaften, GEOMAR, Wischhofstraβe 1–3, 24148 Kiel, Germany
H. Thiel
Affiliation:
Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Columbusstraβe, 27515 Bremerhaven, Germany.
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Extract

The size distribution of benthic nematodes was investigated along different gradients of food availability in various regions of the north-eastern Atlantic: I, across the continental margin and II, with increasing distance from the continental rise. An overall trend for miniaturization with increasing distance from the food source was found. Moreover, our results indicate that seasonally varying food supply or a periodically pulsed input of organic matter to the sea floor affects nematode size spectra. The hypothesis is proposed that the life cycle of deep-sea nematode species and hence the size structure of their populations are related to seasonal energy availability. This dependence might result in one year life spans of deep-sea nematodes and probably other meiofauna.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 76 , Issue 2 , May 1996 , pp. 327 - 344
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1996

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