This paper not to be ci ted \'I i thout prior reference to the author.

International Council for theE)~loration OI the Sea c .r:.1976/ L:-14­

Pla.n1{ton Commi ttee

•

Ph~Dü;'IIH"\!I'T SPE;·:; IES OF NET PHYTOPLANi'l.TON Filarl TUE REG ION OF

BEAR. ISLAND

by

Narcin PIlii slci

Tnsti tute of Oceanocraphy, Gdan sI\: University, Gdynia., Poland

Introduction

The phytoplankton of the Arctic seas, particularly the Barents

Sea, has been fairly weIl investigated /Braarud 1935, Gogoleva 1~7,

v "Halldal 1953, KorotJdevic 1960, Rouhijajnen 1966, Sirsov 1947,

Usacev 1935, et 0.1./. There is,· hovrever, no detailed elaboration oI

the phytoplankton of the Bear Island region. A feature of this region

is its differentiated hydrological conditions /Sarnina 1960/. Tbese

differences result from 0. specific distribution of currents. From

the Barents Sea side, the waters surrounding Bear Island are

influenced by the east-Spizbergen cold current whieh receives the

Bear Island eurrent flowil'l..g round the island eloekwise, from the

south-east. From the west, the waters surrounding Bear Island eateh

the wann Nor\vegian current flowing from the south-west, one branch

of \ihieh eomprises the west-Spitzbergen current direeted towards the

western eoast of Spitzbergen, ~le second Ilowing easDvards beuveen

the island and the northern coasts of Norvray /Nordl\.app/.

The above-mentioned distribution of eurrents affects the tempe-

rature and salini ty oi' the \vaters investigated. Basing on long-term

investigations of thc \'laters of the cold Bear Island current, Sarnina. 0/1960/ gives the 1m-rest menn temperatures - 1.3 C recorded from

•'.

-~;

This poper not to be cited Hithout prior refercnce to the o.uthor.

Intern~tionalCouncil for theExploration 01' the Seo.

C.I-i.1976/ L:-14Plunltton Commi ttee

•

Pi{EDQ;IIlJANT SPEeIES 01;> NET PHYTOPLANi~TOH FROrT TUE REGION OF

BEAR ISLAND

by

Harcin Pliiislci

Institute 01' Oceanocraphy, Gdansl\: University, Gdynia, Poland

Introduction

Thc phytoplanl~ton 01' the Arctic zeo.s, po.rticularly the Barents

Sea, has been fairly ,...ell investigated /Braarud 1935, Gogolevo. 1967,v v

Halldal 1953, Korotldevic 1960, R01,lhijajnen 1966, Sirsov 1947,

Usacev 1935, et 0.1./. There is,· hm'!ever, no detailed elaboration 01'

the phytoplanl{~on of the Bear Island region. A feature of this region

is its differcntiated hydroloeical conditions /Sarninu 1960/. Tbese

differences result from a specificdistribution of currents. From

the Barents Sea sidc, thc waters surrounding Beal' Island are

influenced by the east-Spizbergen cold current 'vhich receives the

Deal' Island current flo",ip..g round the island clockwise, from the

south-east. From the 'west, the ....Jaters surrounding Bear Island catch

the \':0.1111 NOr\'lcgian current flO\·'i~·from the south-\'lest_ one branch

of which comprises the west-Spitzbergen current directed towo.rds the

western coust of Spitzbergen, tl1e second flowing eas~lards beu1een.'

the island und the northcrn coasts 01' Nonlay /Nordlmpp/•.

Thc above-mentioned distribution of currents affects thc tempe-

raturc and salinity oi' thc \'lo.ters investigo.ted. Easing on long-term

investigo.tions of thc \m.ters of the cold Bear Islo.nd current, So.rninao .

/1960/ gives the lOHest mcan temperatures - 1.3 C recorded fron

- 2 -

January to April, and the highest moan - 2.80 C recorded from June

to September. The salinity incrcases with thc temperature - from

34.2 0/00 to 34.75 0/00 in September. The waters influcnccd by thc

....:a.n:i.. \Icst currcnts· ShOT,ICd hit;her temperature5, thus the meo.n monthly

ter.lperature for June in 1960-62 was 4.260C /Aleksiey~v 1964/ and

the salinity in 1933-61 around 35.10 0/00 /Kislyakov 1964/.

rTethod

Thc plaru~ton was collected from five mnrl~ed stations /Fig.1/

in U'TO seasons: spring /20-21.VI.1972, 5-t.VI.1973/ and autumn

/23-28.IX.1971, 22-23.IX.19'l2, 16.IX.1973/. In view of thc existing

\'leather conditions, the distribution of stations and collections

from particular stations differed each cruise.

~,.~

,,

•Each tiDo, the material \'laS collected by I1leans of a Hensen

type plan1~ton not of 3 ::ccx bolting"; cloth, an additional COpon..rlO,gen

not of 25 xxx boltine cloth being applied in June 1972 and 1973.

The Hensen net was used for. vertical hauls from bottom to surface,

and the Copcnhagen - brol\.Cn dm'rn into U'lO layers: 1. from the botto:n

to 25 m. depth, and 2. from 25 m. to the surfucc. The material "I-laS

conserved on board, in a 4% solution of forr.mlin to be o.nalyzed in'

tbe luboro.tory. That from the Henson net, beiI'1..8 fuller, comprised

. the subject of exaninations, \vhereas :that from the Copenhagen net •

was treated as supplemcntary. Havine applied such catch gear, one

can spcak of the ratio of prodominunce, particulurly of lurger forms

und those crcating colonies.

Results

. Diatoms and Pcridinieae predominatcd' in ·tbc phytoplankton of

the "Taters analyzcd. Very rarely \'lere there representatives of other. . .

groups of algo.c. Thc diatoms prcdomino.tcd over the Peridinicuc .

during euch.cruise, not only an rcgurdq thc number of species, but

------------------ --------------------

- 3 -

- --..,I

•

nIno thc numbcr 0:[ co11s.

Distinct differonees in t.~c number of cclls in the phytoplnnk~ .'­

ton "lere found beu-wcm June and September ofeach year /Tablc 1/•.

The greatcr numbcrs of phytoplanlcton cclls noted in June dl'oppcd·

in September, ,-,hen there "laS a distinct increase in thc quanti ty.

of zooplankton -/ZmijC\-rska 1976/. This type of periodicity in planl~ton

dcvelopment, is typical of Arctic -vmtcrs /Boeorov 1974/. Diffcrenccs

in the numbers of diatoms und Peridinieue during .theperiodfroln

June and Septeober \-lere also observed. In Jtme -of 1972 and 1973,

diatoms averagcd 51%, and in September 1971, 1972 and 1973 - 7456 of

the total number of cclls, ""/hereas Peridinieae averaged l~8% and'

25% respectivcly.

The most nur.1erous specics of diator.1s included: Rhizosolenia

hebetata,Rh. styliformis, Chaetoceros decipiens, Ch. borealis~

Ch. socialis and Bitzschia 'seriata, ''lhilst those of Peridinieae ­

Dinophysis norvegica, Peri<.linil.L.'T.l depressum, P. ovaturn, P. pellucidum,

Ceratium urctiew~l, C. longipcs, C. tripos.

Host ofthe speeies ,-/ere observed on each of 'tbe five cruises.

On ana1yzing the t'-IO seasons - June and September, separately,

houever, speeies vlere found to oeeur only in June: Nitz schia

closterium, Peridinium oceanicum, Phaeoeystis pouchetii, 01' in

-September: Chaetoceros constrictus, Coscinodiscus radiatus,

Rhizosolenia alata, R. setigera, Ceratium linea:twn, Phalacroma sp.'. ,

An analysis of the quantitativeand qualitative composition at

particular stations shm-/S substantial differentiation. Tl.1ese .

differences, however, did not indicate any dis·tinct repetition in

consecutive yeo.rs, particularly in thc case of June sampIes. These

results may be influenced by material havinß been collectcd at .

different da.tesin Junc in the partiqular yeo.rs. There is 0. Illore

- 4 - ..

.Slcrifter, 10.

, . ~

distinct similnrity ofrutios in purticulnr years, in Scptemb?r.

This isobserved in the rcpeated drop in nuober of specinens further

. north"rard, henceboth' from the qutmtitai.tve and qualitative point of

vie\,l, station A is mosi numerously represented, primnrily in. . .connection with such species as: Rhizosolenia hebetata, Rh. styli~

fOrI:1is, Chaetoccros decipilens, Ni tzschia seriata.

Su~~inG up~it can bc statcd that thc ratio of Quantitative

and qualitative predooina~ce in the phytoplankton around Bear Island

follow.thc typical ecological rcgularity for.Arctic watcrs /Bogorov

1974/, a more accurate outline of distribution and scasonal fluctu-. .

ations of algae based on the specific hydrological conditions in

thcarea requires fUrtherstudics~

References '.

ALEKSIEEYEV A.P. /1964/;Rezultuty olceanoeraficeslüch isslcdovani

Nor\'lezskovo i Grenlandslwvo morej v 1960-1962 ßg. Is'slcdovania

po pror.Jyslovoj oleeanografii, Trudy P1NRO,XVI,Noslcva.

BOGOROV \l.G~/1974/:Plan1{ton 1-Iirnovookeana, Naulca, r·!osl\:va

BRAARUD T./1935/:The ",0st" expedition to·the Denmarle Strait,1929,

11 Thc phytoplunlcton and i ts conditions of' grm.,th. Hvalrudets

.',GOGOLEVA H.A./1967/:Raspredelenije fi toplunktona v Norvezslo;:om morje

1962-1965~ I1aterialy ribohazajstviennych isslc~ovun.t1.Severnovo

busena, Trudy PINrr.o,X,Moslcva., f ~ •

HALLDAL P. /1953/ :Phytoplanlüon investic;o.tions from \'lcuthcr ship H

in the Horver;ian Sea 19!+8-h9. Hvalradets Skrirtcr,38.

KISLYAKOVA.G. /1964/:0 koliebaniach Bolicnosti v Spicbergcnsl~om

tloplom tictcni, 'Lsoledovunia promyslovoj olccunografii, Trudy

PINRO, 10lI, Hoskva.. v .

lCOROTICIEVIC O. S. /1960/ :Diatomovaja flora 1itorali Barcnccva morjQ.

Trud.I·1urr.mnslc:.Hol"'sl-:.Biol. lnstit., 1/5/ ,I·'1os!evQ-Lcningrad.

I'"

\,

- 5 -

r:OUraJAJl!fN 1=. I. /1 c.J)()/: Ka.ce stviennij sosto.\~ Litop12n~:tor.".1 E2~rel,-c<.?v;:

lDorjr... Sostuv i ras~)red. ple..n;\:tsma i bentosa v jl,!:'::no,j casti

Barenceva ruorja.Al\.adem.Nau.( SSSR,I/!osh:va-leningl'e.d.

SARNINA R.A./1960/:Sczol1..nye i mnogoletnije izntienienia t€llipel'atul'Y i

solonosti \'Jod holodnovo r·liedwiezinskovo tecenija. rfautno

techniCes1{ij biuletin PINRO, 2/12/, '.ll'mansk.

SIf,SOV T.P./1947/:Sezonnie javlenija v '3ni fitoplanJ<tona polarnych

morej v sviazi z ledovym rezirnom. 'rudy Al'l<i~os.instituta,23/2/.v

USACEV P.J./1935/:Sostav i l'aspredeleni~e fitoplaru~tona Barenceva

morja letom 1931 g. Tl'udy Arldi<5es. ::'nstituta, 21 •

Zmije\\'ska H. I. /1976/ : Zooplankton rejon6'f \'lyspy Niedz\'I"iedziej /Zooplun':'

kton from the region of Beal' Island/.Zesz.Nauk.UG-ser.Oceanograf.

4 /in press/.

Summary

Observations v.ere conducted on ·the species predominating in

the phytoplaru(ton of Beal' Island region, which has a.specific

distribution of cul'l'ents and thus a distinct influence.on differences

• in temperatul'e and salin1ty of \vater. ~\he sampling stations IFig.1 I

\ve1'e chosen from the point of vievl of these differences. P:laru{ton

was sampled by 'means of Hensen net 13 xxxi in t\.,ro seasons, in June

and September 1971, 1972 and 1973, and additianally'in June 1972 ~d

1973 using a Copenhagen net /25 ~X/. Analyses proved the existence

of differences in quantitative and qualitative ratios of diatoms and

Peridinieae between the mon·ths of Jlme and Septetnber. There are also

differences behreen the particular' stations, but these' ure less

distince in June, ",hereas in September there is a drop in the number

of specimens, parti<vular those of oceanic specie$, tO\vards the north.

"- t.: -

Sea.l'Jsland

•f\

Pi8.1. Distribution of stations. / • .station/

Tnblc 1. Quantity of phytoplankton cells /thou.sund specir.lcns per m~/

~A B C D E

•Senson

IX. 1971 6684 1842 239 9899 654~"

VI. 1972 15377 10686 - 10031 4085 ,

IX. 1972 6058 - 4935 529 -VI~ 1973 8612 - 47045 - 51952 :

IX. ,1973 1208 4145 161 128 -

•