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Latitudinal and bathymetric trends in body size of the deep-sea gastropod Troschelia berniciensis (King)

Latitudinal and bathymetric trends in body size of the deep-sea gastropod Troschelia berniciensis... Body size is a fundamental topic in ecology with important implications for community structure and biodiversity. Although there are numerous studies addressing patterns of geographic variation of body size in deep-sea benthos, results are conflicting. Thus geographic patterns of body size in deep-sea organisms remain poorly described. We analysed depth and latitudinal trends of body size in a species of gastropod, Troschelia berniciensis (King, 1846) from the eastern North Atlantic. We tested the hypotheses that (1) body size increases linearly with latitude and (2) body size increases with depth. Results partially supported the predictions. Firstly, there was a significant linear increase of body size with latitude, but this trend was weak. Secondly, body size decreased with depth. Environmental gradients that cause large-scale patterns of body-size variation in surface environments would have little effect on communities living at great depths. Latitudinal and depth clines may be produced by independent mechanisms that operate on different scales of time and space. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Marine Biology Springer Journals

Latitudinal and bathymetric trends in body size of the deep-sea gastropod Troschelia berniciensis (King)

Marine Biology , Volume 143 (4) – Jun 17, 2003

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References (78)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2003 by Springer-Verlag
Subject
LifeSciences
ISSN
0025-3162
eISSN
1432-1793
DOI
10.1007/s00227-003-1116-6
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Body size is a fundamental topic in ecology with important implications for community structure and biodiversity. Although there are numerous studies addressing patterns of geographic variation of body size in deep-sea benthos, results are conflicting. Thus geographic patterns of body size in deep-sea organisms remain poorly described. We analysed depth and latitudinal trends of body size in a species of gastropod, Troschelia berniciensis (King, 1846) from the eastern North Atlantic. We tested the hypotheses that (1) body size increases linearly with latitude and (2) body size increases with depth. Results partially supported the predictions. Firstly, there was a significant linear increase of body size with latitude, but this trend was weak. Secondly, body size decreased with depth. Environmental gradients that cause large-scale patterns of body-size variation in surface environments would have little effect on communities living at great depths. Latitudinal and depth clines may be produced by independent mechanisms that operate on different scales of time and space.

Journal

Marine BiologySpringer Journals

Published: Jun 17, 2003

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