BIOLOGIYA MORYA, 2014, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 257-267

Composition and distribution of benthic amphipods (Crustacea: Amphipoda) in the southern Barents Sea

© 2014 O. S. Lyubina¹, V. F. Bryazgin², S. V. Raznovskaya²

¹Murmansk Marine Biological Institute, Kola Science Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Murmansk 183010;
²Petrozavodsk State University, Petrozavodsk 185910

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The composition and distribution of near-bottom amphipods in the southern part of the central Barents Sea were studied based on quantitative materials collected by expeditions of the Murmansk Marine Biological Institute in 1996-1997. A total of 144 amphipod species (on average 13 ± 1 species per station) were found; the average biomass was 0.49 ± 0.07 g/m², average abundance 106 ± 15 specimens/m². Boreal-arctic (46%), Arctic (17%), and boreal (21%) species were predominant among the amphipod fauna. The present results were compared with the data for 1968-1970.

Key words: amphipods, peracarids, Barents Sea, quantitative distribution, zoogeography.