Vertical and horizontal distribution of biocoenoses in the upper zones of the Japan and Okhotsk seas and their dependence on the hydrological system

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Abstract
The composition of bottom biocoenoses, their distribution and biogeographical structure in the upper zones of Possjet Bay and Tartar Strait (Sea of Japan) and of Aniva and Terpenia Bays (Okhotsk Sea) were studied by means of a quantitative diving method. The vertical distribution of biocoenoses and their biogeographical composition were correlated with the position of the layers of different water masses and depended primarily on temperature conditions. In Possjet Bay at least 4 vertical zones, which coincided with the position of the layers of the surface water mass during various seasons, could be distinguished. In Asiatic waters and off the coast of Norway the horizontal distribution of organisms is different. In low-boreal Pacific waters the most thermophilous species live in lagoons and bays isolated from the open sea while in European waters the warm-water members of the fauna and flora live off the open coasts and are replaced by cold-water forms in fjords where there is greater isolation from the North Atlantic Drift. This suggests that in the upper zones of the Japan and Okhotsk Seas the distribution of organisms is determined by the nature of the heat exchange between sea and atmosphere rather than by the current system but off northern Europe by the degree of influence of the warm North Atlantic Drift.