Soft Bottom Communities in Marine Lakes Sisjajarvi and Linjalampi (Barents Sea)

Abstract

Based on the data of benthic surveys of 2010–2012, three benthic communities: a shallow-water community with the dominance of Scoloplos spp., Nucula tennuis, and Scalibregma inflatum; a deep-water community with the dominance of Chaetosone sp.; and a community of mixed sediments, have been distinguished in soft sediments in marine lakes Sisjajarvi and Linjalampi. These communities are typically marine and similar to other communities in shallow areas of the Barents Sea. They mostly differ in a high abundance of the polychaete Scalibregma inflatum and a small number of echinoderms from the communities in other bays of the Barents Sea. The abundance of the polychaete S. inflatum indicates indirectly possible cases of anoxia in Lake Sisjajarvi.