Data from: Meroplankton diversity, seasonality and life-history traits across the Barents Sea Polar Front revealed by high-throughput DNA barcoding
In many species of marine benthic invertebrates, a planktonic larval phase plays a critical role in dispersal. Very little is known about the larval biology of most species, however, in part because species identification has historically been hindered by the microscopic size and morphological simil...
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Zusammenfassung: | In many species of marine benthic invertebrates, a planktonic larval phase
plays a critical role in dispersal. Very little is known about the larval
biology of most species, however, in part because species identification
has historically been hindered by the microscopic size and morphological
similarity among related taxa. This study aimed to determine the taxonomic
composition and seasonal distribution of meroplankton in the Barents Sea,
across the Polar Front. We collected meroplankton during five time points
seasonally and used high-throughput DNA barcoding of individual larvae to
obtain species-level information on larval seasonality. We found that
meroplankton was highly diverse (72 taxa from eight phyla) and present in
the Barents Sea year-round with a peak in abundance in August and
November, defying the conventional wisdom that peak abundance would
coincide with the spring phytoplankton bloom. Ophiuroids, bivalves and
polychaetes dominated larval abundance while gastropods and polychaetes
accounted for the bulk of the taxon diversity. Community structure varied
seasonally and total abundance was generally higher south of the Polar
Front while taxon richness was overall greater to the north. Of the
species identified, most were known inhabitants of the Barents Sea.
However, the nemertean Cephalothrix iwatai and the brittle star Ophiocten
gracilis were abundant in the meroplankton despite never having been
previously recorded in the northern Barents Sea. The new knowledge on
seasonal patterns of individual meroplanktonic species has implications
for understanding environment-biotic interactions in a changing Arctic and
provides a framework for early detection of potential newcomers to the
system. |
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DOI: | 10.5061/dryad.n8pk0p2vf |