Annual dynamics of meiobenthic communities in the Ligurian Sea (northwestern Mediterranean): preliminary results

Abstract

The dynamics of meiobenthic community were investigated on sandy sediments of the pilot station of Zoagli (Ligurian Sea) between January 1991 and January 1992. Meiofaunal densities ranged between 447 (April) and 3421 (July) ind./10 cm2. Nematodes were the dominant group comprising on the average 75 % of the total fauna. Harpacticoid copepods were the second most abundant group (from 1.7 to 55.3 %) followed by Turbellaria (on the average 5.5 % of total fauna) and Polychaeta (on average 1.2 % of total fauna). The importance of several environmental parameters (such as total organic matter, grain size and RPD depth) in structuring the meiobenthic community is discussed