Benthic assemblages of Polychaeta in chosen regions of the Admiralty Bay (King George Island, South Shetland Islands)

Abstract

By means of the synthetic diagram method (Romaniszyn 1970) populations of benthic Polychaeta at the depth ranging from 15 to 250 m of the Admiralty Bay (South Shetland Islands) were analysed. During the summer season of 1979/80 three replicate subsamples were taken at 18 stations situated along 3 crosssections using the Van Veen grab of a catching area of 0.09 m²; 61 benthic taxa of Polychaeta were recorded in these samples. The characteristics of particular assemblages are presented together with their tendency to change as a result of substrate quality, depth and position in the study area. Considerable affinity between the fauna of Polychaeta in the shallowest part of the bay and the composition and structure of polychaete assemblages occurring at Arthur Harbor (Anvers Island), which were described by Richardson and Hedgpeth (1977) was recorded.