Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen; Operationele Directie Taxonomie en Fylogenie; Afdeling Recente Invertebraten, more, co-ordinator
Amphipods represent the most species-rich group in Antarctic benthic communities, and have developed a wide variety of feeding strategies, from suspension-feeding to necrophagy. Our study deals with different aspects of the feeding ecology of these crustaceans: identification of their different trophic types, role of the amphipods as consumers on the benthic communities, role of the amphipods as resource for larger consumers. Identification of the faunal composition of the amphipod taxocoenoses of the macrobenthos of the Weddell Sea (Kapp Norvegia) and King George Island (Admiralty Bay, two reference sites of the SCAR EASIZ programme. Characterization of the lifestyles, habitat and microhabitat structure and geographic and bathymetric distribution.
