Suprabenthic pycnogonids from Creixell beach (Tarragona, West Mediterranean)
Munilla León, T.; San Vicente, C. (2000). Suprabenthic pycnogonids from Creixell beach (Tarragona, West Mediterranean). Cah. Biol. Mar. 41(3): 321-328
In: Cahiers de Biologie Marine. Station Biologique de Roscoff: Paris. ISSN 0007-9723; e-ISSN 2262-3094, more
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| Keywords |
Abundance
Aquatic communities > Benthos > Zoobenthos
Check lists
Composition > Community composition
Distribution > Geographical distribution > Vertical distribution
MED, Western Mediterranean
Population characteristics > Biomass
Population characteristics > Population density
Population characteristics > Population structure
Records
Sampling > Statistical sampling
Topographic features > Landforms > Coastal landforms > Beaches
Achelia echinata Hodge, 1864 [WoRMS]; Achelia vulgaris (Costa, 1861) [WoRMS]; Ammothella longipes (Hodge, 1864) [WoRMS]; Anoplodactylus petiolatus (Krøyer, 1844) [WoRMS]; Anoplodactylus virescens (Hodge, 1864) [WoRMS]; Callipallene emaciata (Dohrn, 1881) [WoRMS]; Callipallene tiberii (Dohrn, 1881) [WoRMS]; Endeis spinosa (Montagu, 1808) [WoRMS]; Nymphonella tapetis Ohshima, 1927 [WoRMS]; Pycnogonidae Wilson, 1878 [WoRMS]; Tanystylum conirostre (Dohrn, 1881) [WoRMS]
Mediterranean Sea - Western Basin [Marine Regions]
Marine/Coastal |
| Authors | | Top |
- Munilla León, T.
- San Vicente, C.
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| Abstract |
Five stations from the Creixell sublittoral zone were sampled monthly in 1991-1992, parallel to the coastline, with a suprabenthic sledge. On these soft bottoms 211 pycnogonids belonging to the following ten species were recorded between 0 and 3.5 m depth: Ammothella longipes, Tanystylum conirostre, Achelia echinata, Achelia vulgaris, Nymphonella tapetis, Endeis spinosa, Callipallene emaciata, Callipallene tiberi, Anoplodactylus petiolatus, and Anoplodactylus virescens. Ammothella longipes was the most abundant species (82.0 % of the taxocoenosis) and the only resident throughout the year; 2/3 of their specimens were postlarvae and juveniles and 1/3 adults. The mean density of this species was 5.3 specimens 100 m-2 and its biomass 2 mg 100 m-2. The data of A. Longipes obtained on this beach are compared with the corresponding ones from a photophilous algal hard substratum on the Costa Brava (Gerona) at the same depth. A Posidonia oceanica meadow, located 500 m off the coastline, is probably the source of the majority of pycnogonids and the passive migration of specimens (mainly subadults) regulates their presence on the sandy bottoms. Moreover, hydrodynamics appears to be the main environmental factor influencing the bathymetric pycnogonid distribution in the sublittoral zone of the beach. |
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