Abstract
A study was made of the sub-littoral benthic environment of Ellis Fjord, a 10 km-long fjord located near Davis Station, in the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica, over a 15 mo period (November 1984 to February 1986). Data were collected by SCUBA diving and underwater photography and were inhitially analysed by ordination techniques (non-metric multidimensional scaling). Ordinations showed substratum type to be the factor most strongly associated with changes in the distribution and abundance of macrobenthic species within the fjord. Other factors shown to be associated with changes in macrobenthic species assemblages were depth, distance from the fjord mouth, bottom slope, shoreline characteristics, current speed, and the presence of low-salinity water at shallow depths during the summer melt. The four major substratum types in Ellis Fjord were sand, rock, Serpula narconensis colonies and Phyllophora antarctica thalli. S. narconensis colonies supported the most species and sand substrate supported the least. P. antarctica is the only macrophyte species which occurred in the fjord. S. narconensis colonies in Ellis Fjord from one of the largest known tubeworm reefs in the world. The assemblages of benthic species in Ellis Fjord were different from those seen at other sub-littoral benthic sites off the Vestfold Hills, and at other Antarctic sites. There was a far greater proportion of filter-feeding species in the fjord than at other sub-littoral benthic sites off the Vestfold Hills. Factors which are thought to have caused these differences are the high level of organic but low level of inorganic input into the benthic system of the fjord, and the absence of anchor ice from the fjord.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature cited
Adamson, D. A., Pickard, J. (1986). Physiography and geomorphology of the Vestfold Hills. In: Pickard, J. (ed.) Antarctic oasis: terrestrial environments and history of the Vestfold Hills. Academic Press, Sydney, p. 99–139
Arnaud, P. (1965). Nature de l'etagement du benthos marin algal et animal dans l'Antarctic. C. r. hebd. Séanc Acad. Sci., Paris 261: 265–266
Bellisio, N. B., Lopez, R. B., Tomo, A. P. (1972). Vertical distribution of benthic fauna in three Antarctic localities: Hope Bay, Peterman Island and Melchior Archipelago. Contrnes Inst. antarctic. argent. 142: 1–87
Belyaev, G. M. (1964). Some patterns in the quantitative distribution of bottom fauna in the Antarctic. Inf. Byull sov. antarkt. Eksped. 1: 119–121
Bosence, D. W. J. (1979). The factors leading to aggregation and reef formation in Serpula vermicularis L. In: Larwood, G., Rosen, B. R. (eds.) Biology and systematics of colonial organisms. Academic Press, London, p. 299–318
Brattegard, T. (1980). Why biologists are interested in fjords. In: Freeland, H. J., Farmer, D. M., Levings, C. D. (eds.) Fjord oceanography. Plenum Press, New York, p. 53–66
Bullivant, J. S. (1967). The fauna of the Ross Sea. Part 5. Ecology of the Ross Sea benthos. Bull. N. Z. Dep. scient. ind. Res. 176: 49–75. (Mem. N. Z. oceanogr. Inst. No. 32)
Castellanos, Z. J. A., de (1973). Stratification of the benthonic component of invertebrates in Paradise Harbour (Antarctica). Contrnes Inst. antarct. argent. 164: 1–30
Dayton, P. K., Oliver, J. S. (1977). Antarctic soft-bottom benthos in oligotrophic and eutrophic environments. Science. N.Y. 197: 55–58
Dayton, P. K., Robilliard, G. A., Payne, T. (1970). Benthic faunal zonation as a result of anchor ice at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. In: Holdgate, M. W. (ed.) Antarctic ecology, Vol. 1. Academic Press, New York, p, 244–258
Dayton, P. K., Robilliard, G. A., de Vries, A. L. (1969). Anchor ice formation in McMurdo Sound, and its biological effects Science, N. Y. 163: 273–274
Dearborn, J. H. (1963). Marine benthos at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Bull. ecol. Soc. Am. 44: 41–42
Dhargalkar, V. K., Burton, H. R., Kirkwood, J. M. (In press). Animal associations with the dominant species of shallow water macrophytes along the coastline of the Vestfold, Hills, Antarctica. Hydrobiologia
Everitt, D. A., Poore, C. B., Pickard, J. (1980). Marine benthos from Davis Station, Eastern Antarctica. Aust. J. mar. Freshwat. Res 31: 829–836
Everitt, D. A., Thomas, D. P. (1986). Observations of seasonal changes in diatoms at inshore localities near Davis Station, East Antarctica. Hydrobiologia 139: 3–12
Faith, D. P., Minchin, P. R., Belbin, L. (1987). Composition dissimilarity as a robust measure of ecological distance. Vegetatio 69: 57–68
Franzmann, P. D., Skyring, G. W., Burton, H. R., Deprez, P. P. (In press). Sulfate reduction rates and some aspects of the limnology of four lakes and a fjord in the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica. Hydrobiologia
Gallagher, J. B., Burton, H. R. (In preparation). Seasonal circulation of an Antarctic fjord, Vestfold Hills
Green, K., Burton, H. R. (In press). Seasonal and geographical variation in the food of Weddell seals, Leptonychetes weddelli, in Antarctica. Aust. Wildlife Res.
Gruzov, Ye. N., Propp, M. V., Pushkin, A. F. (1967). Biological associations of coastal areas of the Davis Sea (based on the observations of divers). Inf. Byull. sov. antarkt. Eksped. 6: 523–533
Hedgpeth, J. W. (1969). Preliminary observations of life between tidemarks at Palmer Station, 64°45′S, 64°05′W. Antarctic J. U.S. 4: 106–107
Hove, H. A., ten (1979). Different causes of mass occurrence in serpulids. In: Larwood, G., Rosen, B. R. (eds.) Biology and systematics of colonial organisms, Academic Press, London, p. 281–298
Kauffman, T. A. (1974). Seasonality and disturbance in benthic communities, Arthur Harbour, Antarctic Peninsula Antarctic J. U.S. 9: 307–310
Kirkwood, J. M., Burton, H. R. (In press). Three new zooplankton nets designed for under-ice sampling, with preliminary results of collections made from Ellis Fjord, Antarctica during 1985. Mem. natn. Inst. polar Res., Tokyo (Spec. Issue) (Proc. 9th Symp. polar Biol.)
Knox, G. A. (1960). Littoral ecology and biogeography of the southern oceans. Proc. R. Soc. (Ser. B) 152: 577–624
Kruskall, J. B., Young, F. W., Seery, J. B. (1977). How to use KYST-2, a very flexible programme to do multidimensional scaling and unfolding. Unpublished paper, A. T. & T. Bell Telephone Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey
Kulczynski, S. (1928). Die Pflanzenassoziationen der Pieninen. Bull. int. Acad. pol. Sci. Lett. (Cl. Sci. math. nat.) (Sér. B, Suppl. 2) 2: 57–203
Lowry, J. K. (1975) Soft bottom macrobenthic community of Arthur Harbor, Antarctica. Antarctic Res. Ser. 23: 1–19
Luk'ianova, T. S. (1978). Applying statistics to the study of various factors affecting marine bottom fauna biomass distribution. Vest. mosk. ges. Univ. (Ser. 5, Geogr.) Mar.-Apr. 1978 (2): 67–73
McCain, J. C., Stout, W. E. (1969). Benthic zonation on submarine cliffs in the vicinity of Arthur Harbour, Antarctica. Antarctic J. U.S. 4: 105–106
Minchin, P. R. (1987). An evaluation of the relative robustness of techniques for ecological ordination. Vegetatio 69: 89–107
Moore, P. G. (1977). Inorganic particulate suspensions in the sea and their effect on marine animals. Oceanogr. mar. Biol. A. Rev. 15: 225–363
Nakajima, Y., Watanabe, K., Nato, Y. (1982). Diving observations of the marine benthos at Syowa Station, Antarctica. Mem. natn. Inst. polar Res., Tokyo (Spec. Issue.) 23: 44–54 (Proc. 5th Symp. polar Biol.)
Neushul, M. (1965). Diving observations of sub-tidal Antarctic marine vegetation. Botanica mar. 8: 234–243
Oliver, J. S. (1980). Processes affecting the organization of marine soft-bottom communities in Monterey Bay, California and McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Ph. D. thesis, University of California, San Diego (University microfilms 80-23111)
Platt, H. M. (1978). Assessment of the macrobenthos in an Antarctic environment following recent pollution abatement. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 9: 149–153
Rauschert, M. (1984). Observations of marine fauna in the shore zone and on the sea bottom of King George Island. Geod. geophys. Veröff. (Berlin, GDR) 1 (11): 38–55
Retamal, M. A., Quintana, R., Neira, F. (1982). Qualitative and quantitative analysis of benthic communities in Foster Bay, Deception Island (35th Chilean Antarctic Expedition, Jan. 1981). Sér. cient. Inst. antarct. chil. 29: 5–15
Tierney, T. J. (1975). An externally draining freshwater system in the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica. Polar Rec. 17: 684–685
Tucker, M. J. (1983). The zooplankton and ice-water interface fauna of the inshore marine area of the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica. Unpublished B.Sc. (Honours) thesis. University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia
Tucker, M. J. (In press). The inshore marine ecosystem of the Vest-fold Hills, Antarctica. Hydrobiologia
Tucker, M. J., Burton, H. R. (In press). A survey of the marine fauna in shallow coastal waters of the Vestfold Hills and Rauer Islands, Antarctica. A.N.A.R.E. Res. Notes
Williams, R. (In press). The inshore marine fishes of the Vestfold Hills region, Antarctica. Hydrobiologia
Zamorano, J. H. (1983). Zonation and biomass of the benthic macrofauna of South Bay, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica. Série cient. Inst. antarct. chil. 30: 27–38
Zaneveld, J. S. (1968). Benthic marine algae, Ross Island to Balleny Islands. Am. geogr. Soc. Antarctic Map Folio Ser. 10: 10–12. (Folio Am. geogr. Soc.)
Zar, J. H. (1984). Biostatistical analysis. 2nd ed. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by G. F. Humphrey, Sydney
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kirkwood, J.M., Burton, H.R. Macrobenthic species assemblages in Ellis Fjord, Vestfold Hills, Antarctica. Mar. Biol. 97, 445–457 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00397776
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00397776