The distribution of Polychaeta in offshore deposits in the Irish Sea

Abstract

During 1952–54 a survey was made of the Polychaeta living in the offshore bottom deposits of the south of the Isle of Man. These deposits range from stones and coarse gravel to soft mud; samples were obtained with a van Veen grab sampler and various dredges.It was found that, although some species were widely distributed, each bottom deposit had a typical fauna, and that where the deposits graded into one another the polychaete fauna was also mixed. The distribution of each species appears to depend mainly on its mode of life and feeding habits; some can exist in several types of deposit or habitat, while others are very much restricted in their distribution.The Polychaeta formed a high proportion, numerically, of the macrofauna, exceeding any other animal group, except possibly in the coarse gravels. However, the density of the polychaete population was low compared with other areas of the British Isles, and this may be correlated with the comparatively low biomass in the area.