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Meiofauna distribution on hard substrata in a submarine cave
Russo, R.; Valente, S.; Colangelo, G.; Belmonte, G. (2015). Meiofauna distribution on hard substrata in a submarine cave. J. Mar. Biol. Ass. U.K. 95(8): 1555-1564. https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S002531541500051X
In: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. Cambridge University Press/Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom: Cambridge. ISSN 0025-3154; e-ISSN 1469-7769, more
Also appears in:
Sukhotin, A.; Frost, M.; Hummel, H. (Ed.) (2015). Proceedings of the 49th European Marine Biology Symposium September 8-12, 2014, St. Petersburg, Russia. European Marine Biology Symposia, 49. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 95(8). 1517-1721 pp., more
Peer reviewed article  

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Keyword
    Marine/Coastal
Author keywords
    Submarine caves; rocky meiofauna; space-time distribution; Harpacticoida

Authors  Top 
  • Russo, R.
  • Valente, S.
  • Colangelo, G.
  • Belmonte, G., more

Abstract
    For the first time the meiofauna of the rocky walls of a submarine cave was studied. The cave, known as il Ciolo (Strait of Otranto, south-east Italy) is a closed tunnel about 125 m long, with a maximum depth of 6 m below sea level. The meiofauna was collected from artificial panels and natural rocky walls. This double approach enabled: (1) the description of the community's initial organization (on artificial substrata), and (2), especially for Harpacticoida, its mature composition (on rocky walls), which also helped to establish spatial differences. The collected samples yielded 70 taxa in total. Harpacticoida represented the most important group of organisms in terms of both abundance and identified taxa. The meiofauna assemblage appeared not to be affected by community age, with the exception of the very early stage. The meiofauna of the cave showed assemblage differences from the entrance to the innermost positions, but not as evident as in the case of the macrobenthos. The similarity of community composition at different ages (6, 12 and 24 months) and at different positions along the cave could be the consequence of the specimens’ vagility.

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