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Invertebrate body sizes from Marion Island

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2004

Richard D. Mercer
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
A.G.A. Gabriel
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
J. Barendse
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
D.J. Marshall
Affiliation:
School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Durban-Westville, Private Bag X54001, Durban 4000, South Africa
S.L. Chown
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa

Abstract

Body size was measured for 67 of the approximately 120 invertebrate species on Marion Island. These include more than 60% of the 29 acarine families, and more than 80% of the remaining terrestrial invertebrate species. Thus the data are regarded as representative of the entire invertebrate fauna of sub-Antarctic, Marion Island. Length–mass and fresh–dry mass relationships were calculated for orders, families and species to provide a means of estimating body size parameters for species in collections and those which are known from only a few specimens. A comparison of the regression slopes for the different taxonomic ranks indicates that it is better to use regressions from the lowest possible taxonomic level for prediction of body mass. Differences between length–mass relationships for Marion Island insects and continental assemblages raises the question as to the applicability of continental regressions to sub-Antarctic species. This study provides a useful means for estimating body size parameters for Antarctic and sub-Antarctic invertebrates and provides baseline data on an important species trait that seems to be changing with local and global environmental changes.

Type
Papers—Life Sciences and Oceanography
Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 2001

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