Fróðskaparrit

						92

MYSIDACEA (CRUSTACEA) IN THE FAROE AREA

Conclusions

Before the BIOFAR programme sampling

started in 1987 only 16 species of mysids

were recorded from the area defined as the

Faroese Fishery Territory.

Thirty-four species of mysids have been

recorded from the area. The most common-

ly caught species were the hyperbenthic

species Pseudomma qffine (37 deploy-

ments), Parerythrops obesa (30), Erythrops

serrata (29), Mysidopsis didelphys (27),

and Hansenomysis fyllae (23). The domi-

nant species in the phytal zone is Praunus

inermis. Species that were only caught in a

single deployment were the meso- or ba-

thypelagic species Eucopia grimaldii, E.

unguiculata, Gnathophausia zoea and Me-

terythrops picta, and the hyperbenthic

species Amblyops kempi, Paramblyops

bidigitata, P rostrata and Pseudommajasi,

from depths between 940 and 1414 m.

A summary of the records of the species

is given in Table 1.

Six species are rhost often recorded from

the Faroe plateau or the tops of the banks

(0-299 m), 16-18 species seem to be slope

(300-999 m) species, and 10-12 species are

mostly or only caught in deep water (>

1000 m).

Eighteen species are mostly confmed to

«warm» AW, 7 species are mostly confined

to cold NW or AI, and 9 species are mainly

found in well mixed water masses.

Together with up-coming results on the

Icelandic mysid fauna collected during the

BIOICE programme (1991 -) the improved

knowledge of the mysid fauna in the Faroe

area will provide a new platform for studies

of mysid species distributions in the transi-

tion area between the North Atlantic and

the Norwegian Sea.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Professor Arne Nørrevang for the

opportunity to study the mysids collected during the

BIOFAR and BIOFAR 2 programmes, and the staff of

the Kaldbak Marine Laboratory for their care in

undertaking the preliminary sorting of many of the

samples. T. Brattegard wants to thank for pleasant and

fruitful cooperation on the research vessels «Magnus

Heinason» (Fiskirannsóknastovan, Tórshavn) and

«Hákon Mosby» (University of Bergen), and in the

Kaldbak Marine Laboratory.

Contribution of the BIOFAR research programme.

References

Most of the references to older hterature are not inclu-

ded here because they can be found in the bibliographies

of Tattersall and Tattersall (1951), Gordan (1957), and

Mauchline(1980).

Astthorsson, O. S. 1984. The distribution and biology of

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Astthorsson, O. S. 1985. Mysids occurring in the

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Brandt, A. 1997. Abundance, diversity and community

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Brattegard, T. 1973. Mysidacea from shallow water on

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