Intertidal Meiofauna of four sandy beaches in Iceland

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A survey of the major meiofaunal taxa was made in four intertidal sandy beaches on the southwest coast oflceland. Twoof the beaches were highly exposed and consisted of coarse black volcanic sand while the others were more sheltered and consisted of shell sand. At each beach an intertidal transect of three stations was sampled. Samples were taken at 5 cm depth intervals, from the sediment surface down to ground water level but never deeper than 1 m. The composition of the fauna differed between the beaches. Meiofaunal density ranged from 57 to 869 per 10cm2. In one of the highly exposed beaches extremely high numbers or turbellarians, on average 699 per 10cm2, were found, which is one of the highest densities ever recorded for marine sediments. Nematodes were common in all beaches, whereas cope pods were scarce in all but one, where they dominated. Animals were found at all depth intervals but were usually most abundant in the top 10cm. Of the major groups the nematodes had the most uniform vertical distribution.

This publication has 18 references indexed in Scilit: