McKenna: Spatial structure and temporal continuity of South Georgian fish community 



483 



in this system (Slosarczyk, 1983). The smaller gear 

 might have missed some concentrations of this spe- 

 cies, thus underestimating its population and dimin- 

 ishing the apparent dominance of the community. 



The species associations and distribution of species 

 groups were weak and inconsistent. The association 

 between A. mirus and N. nudifrons was the strongest 

 and still only accounted for, at most, 70% of the vari- 

 ability in their distributions (Table 3). Both of these 



fish are small (<15 cm), benthic species; however, their 

 diets overlapped only slightly (38%) (McKenna, 1991). 

 They were often removed from within sponges and 

 other large invertebrates that formed a major part of 

 the catch. They were not numerically dominant, but 

 they were ubiquitous in the region. Although their dis- 

 tributions may have been linked, the association is 

 probably more indicative of how widespread their pre- 

 ferred habitat is (i.e. habitat containing an abundance 



