Sea ice meiofauna abundance in coastal fast ice off Barrow, Alaska, with a focus on Scolelepis squamata (Polychaeta), July 12, 2005 - April 4, 2006 (NCEI Accession 0064869)

The fast ice along the Alaskan coastline forms in November/December and reaches a thickness of 1.5-1.8m by April. Break-up usually occurs between late June and mid-July. During this time of sea ice cover, the coastal fast ice houses a variety of meiofaunal invertebrates including young life stages of benthic species which utilize the ice for feeding on the ice algal bloom. The goal of this study was to examine the role of coastal fast ice in the life cycle of juvenile benthic invertebrates using the example of the polychaete Scolelepis squamata. The data presented here include the abundance and seasonal development of the whole ice meiofaunal community in sea ice cores during five sampling periods in the sea ice season 2005/6 in coarse taxonomic resolution (phylum / order level) except for S. squamata. Meiofauna were sorted from at least three replicate bottom sections (0-10cm) of ice cores collected with an ice auger and melted in the dark after addition of 1 l of 0.2 micrometers-filtered sea water. The abundance of ice metazoans in sediment-free ice increased with progressing season from and was dominated by nematodes and polychaete juveniles. Abundances of meroplanktic polychaete juveniles were at least one order of magnitude below abundances in the ice, suggesting sea ice is an important feeding habitat for these young life stages. Associated environmental data will be submitted to the Alaska Ocean Observing System.