Polychaeta fauna in the northeastern Barents Sea

The northeast of the Barents Sea (the area between the Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya archipelagos) is one of the little-studied areas characterized by a complex structure of the hydrological regime, bottom relief and bottom sediment structure. This area is characterized by the predominance of brown soils with a large number of foraminifera shells, which affects the species composition and structure of benthic communities. The species composition and quantitative characteristics of polychaetes in the northeastern part of the Barents Sea were analyzed on the basis of material collected in December 2019 during Murmansk Marine Biological Iinstitution expeditions on the r/v Dalnie Zelentsy . Faunal complexes of polychaetes have been identified in the study area depending on environmental conditions (type of bottom sediments, depth, hydrological conditions). In the areas of marginal troughs, the detritophagus Spiochaetopterus typicus dominates in terms of biomass and abundance, forming abundant settlements on soft silty-sandy, silty-clay soils. Low values of biomass and abundance have been noted on brown silts with a large number of foraminifera, dominated by Laonice cirrata . On the slopes of underwater hills, washed more strongly by bottom currents, on rough sandy soils with low nutrient content, the dominance of Nephtys ciliata has been noted. The species Sphaerodoridium kolchaki sp. n. recently encountered in the Barents Sea has been noted in the study area as well. The obtained data complement information on the species composition of the northeastern part of the Barents Sea and make it possible to trace further changes in the composition and structure of benthic communities.