European Ocean Biodiversity Information System

The specimens investigated on morphological and molecular basis in this study were sampled in the course of different projects: The IceAGE program (Icelandic marine Animals: Genetics and Ecology, Brix et al. 2014a) is an ongoing research project (IceAGE 2 in 2013, IceAGE-RR in 2018, IceAGE 3 in 2020) which was established as a follow up of the very successful BIOFAR (Biology of the Faroe Islands, Nørrevang et al. 1994; Gerken and Watling 1999) and BIOICE (Benthic Invertebrates of Icelandic waters, Omarsdottir et al. 2013) projects. It is aimed to develop into a long-term study to get an overview of the biodiversity in this extremely diverse region around Iceland with a variety of different habitats and environmental challenges in its adjacent waters. Based on genetic and morphological diversity, it aims to create an inventory of the fauna as elementary knowledge for a comprehensive understanding of possible responses to changing climate conditions in marine environments (Brix et al. 2014a). The focus of the expedition PS106/1 (ARK-XXXI/1.1, 24th of May – 21st of June, 2017) off northern Svalbard onboard the RV Polarstern in course of PASCAL (Physical feedbacks of Arctic PBL, Sea ice, Cloud and Aerosol) was an interdisciplinary approach for studying the interaction of different Arctic feedback mechanisms based on atmospheric, oceanographic, physical and biological studies (Macke and Flores 2018). In this context the vessel was attached to an ice floe during a two-week passive drifting according to the ocean’s current as a preliminary trial-expedition to the first year-round MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) expedition (Sep/2019 – Sep/2020).