BIOLOGIYA MORYA, 2015, Vol. 41, No. 3, pp. 196-204 |
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Free-living heterotrophic flagellates of the sublittoral and bathyal zones of the Kara Sea 1I.D. Papanin Institute for Biology of Inland Waters, Russian Academy of Sciences, Borok 152742; E-mail: The first data are presented on the species diversity and community structure of deep-sea benthic heterotrophic flagellates in the Arctic (the Kara Sea). Thirty-three species and forms of heterotrophic flagellates were found, with kinetoplastids, stramenopiles, apusomonadids, and choanoflagellates being predominant. The species diversity of the studied region was characterized by a high beta-diversity and low alpha-diversity, which is indicative of a substantially higher potential species richness of flagellates in the Kara Sea. The total number of species of flagellates decreased with increasing depth (from 15 to 554 m); peculiar features of the species composition of deep-sea flagellates were not revealed. Flagellate communities within two different biotopes (the upper layer of bottom sediments and a loose flocculent surface layer on the sediment together with near-bottom suspended matter), though had similar taxonomic and trophic structure, differed in the ratio of species with different feeding strategies. Attached or floating flagellates were predominant in the flocculent layer, whereas fast gliding species that actively search for and capture food predominated in bottom sediments. Key words: heterotrophic flagellates, community structure, sublittoral, bathyal, Kara Sea. |
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