Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1999, Qupperneq 226

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ECHINODERMATA, ASTEROIDEAIN THE FAROE AREA
Previous Investigations
According to Lieberkind (1929), the echi-
noderm fauna had not been the subject of
thorough examination before the investiga-
tions performed by Danish zoologists in the
years 1924 to 1927. Those investigations
were mostly concentrated on the near-shore
and shallow waters. Working through the
collected material, Lieberkind (1929)
found 45 species of echinoderms, 25 more
than previously known. Asteroids account-
ed for 12 species.
Even though the Danish “Ingolf ’ Expe-
dition in 1895-96 sampled 22 deep-water
stations off the Faroes, and the research
vessel “Thor” made fishery investigations
around the Faroes in 1903-05, there are no
direct reports of asteroid specimens from
these investigations. On the other hand,
Mortensen (1924) mentions asteroid spe-
cies (Hymenaster pellucidus, Korethraster
hispidus, Lophaster furcifer, Luidia cil-
iaris, Poraniomorpha hispida, Pteraster
militaris, Solaster glacialis, Solaster squa-
matus) from the deep areas around the
Faroes, but does not give more specific in-
formation. Other information comes from
material collected close to Shetland during
the “Lightning” and “Porcupine” expedi-
tions in 1868 and 1869 (Jeffreys et al.,
1868; Sladen, 1883; Bell, 1892).
An account of the history of the zoologi-
cal investigations in the Faroe region is
found in Zoology of the Faroes, Volume 1
(1) (Introduction by R. Spárck).
The BioFar Investigations
The BioFar programme, “Investigations on
the Marine Benthic Fauna of the Faroe Is-
lands,” intended to study the invertebrate
fauna at depths greater than 100 m to sup-
plement and update the results of the Dan-
ish investigations in 1924-27, which were
published in the Series: “The Zoology of
the Faeroes” (Spárckeí al., 1928-37; 1928-
42; 1935-42; Spárck and Tuxen, 1928-
1971).
The BioFar programme ran from 1987 to
1990 (some samples were also taken in
1991-93). Roughly 600 localities were
sampled at depths of 20 to 2,420 m, with
790 deployments of sampling gear (Nørre-
vang et al., 1994). A list with information
on the BioFar stations (date, position,
depth, sampling gear, bottom type, mean
bottom temperature and its standard devia-
tion, water mass or mixture of water mass-
es, maximum amplitude of the total tidal
current) is given in Nørrevang etal. (1994).
The oceanographic data were originally
calculated by H. Westerberg (see Wester-
berg, 1990).
A successor to the BioFar programme,
called BioFar 2, started in 1995. During
this new three-year programme, funded by
the Faroese Govemment and the Carlsberg
Foundation in Denmark, marine fauna from
the upper splash zone down to a 100 m
depth were sampled.
Bottom Sediments
In a review, Spárck (1929) comments on
the benthic communities in depths to about
300 m around the Faroe Islands. Soft bot-
toms (clay and muddy bottoms) are found
mainly in the fjords. Elsewhere these sedi-
ment types are rare. Rock bottom is found
mainly on the steep parts of the continental