The Otranto Channel (South Adriatic Sea), a hot-spot area of plankton biodiversity: pelagic polychaetes.

ABSTRACT: Composition, density and specimen sizes of pelagic polychaete assemblages were analyzed in the Southern Adriatic Sea. The study was based on finely stratified vertical (0-1100 m) and spatial sampling (17 stations) representing spring conditions. Holoplanktonic polychaetes were distributed in both neritic and pelagic waters, although the highest densities were observed along the Otranto Channel. Analysis of the size frequency distribution revealed a trend with depth only for some species. Spatial distribution of holoplanktonic polychaete density was not related to bottom depth, being the organisms mainly concentrated in the epipelagic layer (0-100 m). The most abundant species showed maximum values below or within the thermocline and within the Deep Chlorophyll Maximum or just above it. Rel

SUBMITTER: Guglielmo R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6925135 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature