Sponge assemblages and predicted archetypes in the eastern Canadian Arctic

Marine ecology progress series

Ellen Kenchington^1¹  Francisco Javier Murillo^1²  Lindsay Beazley^1³  Gabrielle Tompkins^1,2⁴ 

[1] Biology Department, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada^2;Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B2Y 4A2, Canada^1;Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Freshwater Institute, Central and Arctic Region, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N6, Canada^4;Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada^3

关键词: Sponge grounds;    Biodiversity;    Community modelling;    Community structure;    Significant Benthic Areas;    Davis Strait;    Baffin Bay;   

DOI  :  10.3354/meps12589

学科分类：海洋学与技术

来源: Inter-Research

【 摘 要 】

Little information exists on the environmental requirements of sponges from the Canadian Arctic, increasing the necessity to establish baseline distribution data on sponge assemblages to predict their susceptibility to climate change. Here we describe the sponge taxa of Hudson Strait, Ungava Bay, Western Davis Strait and Western Baffin Bay collected by Canadian research vessel trawl surveys. A total of 2026 sponge specimens were examined, and 93 different taxa were identified with 79% identified to species, of which 2 are new to science, 1 recorded for the first time in the North Atlantic, 16 are new records for the northwest Atlantic, and 10 are new records for the Baffin Bay, Davis Strait and Hudson Strait sponge fauna. Taxonomic distinctness was higher north of Cape Dyer and south of Davis Strait, whereas the number of species reached a maximum in Davis Strait, which represents the southern distribution limit of the arctic sponge fauna along the slope in this region. Five sponge species assemblages were identified, some of which have been observed elsewhere, suggesting that they may be common to the North Atlantic and at the generic level to the global oceans. Two of the Baffin Bay-Davis Strait assemblages were characterized by large structure-forming astrophorids: one, with arctic species, found at mid-water depths in Baffin Bay and the other, characterized by boreal species, was found deeper, south of Davis Strait. Another assemblage characterized by glass and carnivorous sponges was found along the continental slope of western Baffin Bay. Candidate target indicator species are provided for future sponge community monitoring.

【 授权许可】

Unknown