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Spatio-temporal variations of biomass and abundance in bathyal non-crustacean megafauna in the Catalan Sea (North-western Mediterranean)

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Abstract

The spatio-temporal variations in diversity, biomass and abundance of bathyal invertebrates (excluding decapod crustaceans, which have been analysed elsewhere) from the North-western Mediterranean margin are described. The upper canyon (∼450 m), middle slope (∼650 m) and lower slope (∼1,200 m) habitats were investigated throughout the year. The first two sites are visited daily by a specialised commercial fisheries’ fleet, while the deeper site has not been impacted by fishing activities. A total of 140 species from 12 phyla were collected from the 3 study areas. Of these, the Mollusca, Echinodermata, Polychaeta and Cnidaria were the most speciose groups. The patterns of species diversity (H′) and evenness (E) were similar in time and space. The upper canyon and middle-slope sites were dominated by echinoderms and molluscs, while the lower-slope site was dominated by cnidarians and sponges. Multifactorial ANOVA showed significant spatio-temporal differences in the biomass and/or abundance only in echinoderms, molluscs, cnidarians and polychaetes. The faunal differences observed were explained by habitat type, but not by season. The role of submarine canyons and commercial fishing on shaping the diversity and biomass of bathyal Mediterranean invertebrates is discussed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the Captain and Crew of the R/V García del Cid for their assistance at sea. The data presented here is a result of the RETRO project (CICYT MAR90-757 to FS). E. Ramírez-Llodra is supported by a Census of Marine Life grant (A.P. Sloan Foundation) in the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (UK) which is kindly acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Ciències del Mar (CMIMA-CSIC), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003, Barcelona, Spain

    Eva Ramírez-Llodra, Joan B. Company & Francisco Sardà

  2. Facultat de Biologia, Dept. Biologia Animal, Universitat de Barcelona, Avg. Diagonal 645, 08028, Barcelona, Spain

    Manuel Ballesteros & Luis Dantart

Authors
  1. Eva Ramírez-Llodra
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  2. Manuel Ballesteros
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  3. Joan B. Company
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  4. Luis Dantart
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  5. Francisco Sardà
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Correspondence to Eva Ramírez-Llodra.

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Communicated by S.A. Poulet.

Luis Dantart: Deceased March 2005

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Ramírez-Llodra, E., Ballesteros, M., Company, J.B. et al. Spatio-temporal variations of biomass and abundance in bathyal non-crustacean megafauna in the Catalan Sea (North-western Mediterranean). Mar Biol 153, 297–309 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-007-0805-y

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