Open AccessHydrozoan colonization and succession in the tidal and subtidal zones in Surtsey during the period 1967 to 1984
Author(s) -
Steffen Lundsteen,
Erlingur Hauksson,
Karl Gunnarsson
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
surtsey research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1608-0998
DOI - 10.33112/surtsey.14.11
Subject(s) - intertidal zone , fauna , period (music) , rocky shore , ecological succession , tide pool , colonization , invertebrate , biological dispersal , colonisation , shore , ecology , biology , oceanography , fishery , geology , population , physics , demography , sociology , acoustics
This article reports on results of investigations of hydrozoans collected in Surtsey, Iceland in the period1967 – 1984. Samples were collected in the intertidal zone and by divers in the subtidal zone down to 40m. A list and illustrations of hydrozoan species found in the intertidal and subtidal rocky bottom in Surtseyare presented. Species numbers increased steadily during the study period and in 1984 a total of 37 specieswere recorded in Surtsey making hydrozoans one of the most diverse marine invertebrate groups in Surtsey.Among hydrozoans found during the study are 8 species not previously recorded in Iceland. Apart fromdispersal by planktonic medusa, rafting of polyps on floating objects drifting to Surtsey is thought to beimportant for colonisation of hydrozoan fauna in Surtsey. At the end of the investigations period, 20 yearsafter formation of rocky shores on the island, number of species seemed to be continually increasing