Gammarus wilkitzkii Birula, 1897

8. Gammarus wilkitzkii Birula, 1897 View in CoL

Synonym: Lagunogammarus wilkitzkii auct.

Descriptions and illustrations: Sexton 1942, p. 601; Gurjanova 1951, p. 764, fig. 551; Barnard 1959, p. 120, pls 10-13.

Ecology and habitat: This large and slow-growing species occurs primarily in the pack ice ( Weslawski 1994), where it is omnivorous ( Arndt 2002). In areas with seasonal ice cover the animals may live benthically in the ice free periods (Arndt et al. 2005).

Distribution: This is a high-arctic species, occurring along the coasts of Siberia and northern Canada, as well as in the pack ice of the Polar Sea. It has never yet been found in Norwegian waters outside Svalbard. Svalbard distribution is mapped by Węsławski et al. (2018).