e
e
r l,~ 1:; 0;":
" • J' !. ..', I ) . :
.j0.
39.
L:12..
~
hlln;'I~!~~:.:--'-"
\~T'C
.'
M.t.rial • •nd m.thod ••
~\ly,
~~'
.
Blbl'loth C
'f
,i
Benthic studies of the southern Bight of the North
3ea.XI.
The meiofauna in the Belgian coastal waters in the
period 1980-1981.
•
..
Six eoastal stations were sampled in March, May and
September 1980 an in March, July and Oetober 1981. Their
.. ' ,/localisation is show in fig. 1.
,.•• ~ -r.i \\'~'. / '
Due to 1 agi sti c reasons and bad weather c:ondi ti ons
1.0' ~
samples were eolleeted by subsampling a 0,1 m2 Van Veen
grab, e}'eept in May 1980 and in Oetober 1981 ~,hen sampies
were obtained by subsampling a 170 em2 Reineck box c:orer •
HERMAN, R.L., K. VAN HOLSBEKE AND C. HEIP.
\
Abstract
D~nsity, biomass and diversity of the meiobenthic
community have been studied in six stations off the Belgian
coast in 19BO - 1961.
Three cf them located east of Ostend, show a poor
fT·ei,jfauna composition.
In the more sandy sediments West of
Ostend a richer fauna occurs.
The .nean total density of 1.2 10'.m-2 and an average
nel~atode biomass of 0.17 9 C.m-2 are of the same order of
magnitude as in previous studies in that area (HERMAN et ale
1984, 1 985) •
Df the 13 meiofaunal taxa found the majority oeeurs in
the western zone.
Detailed analysis of the harpacticoid
communlty demonstrates a net differentiation of the western
area from the eastern part of the coastal zone, and again
illustrates that this Belgian coastal area is impoverished
compared to off shore sediments.
Meiobenthos of the Belgian coastal zone was sampled
seasonally from june 1977 onwards.
In a first study, 18
stations were investigated over the period 1977-79 (HERMAN
et al., 1785).
These stations were classified into three
~roups, aeeording to sediment type.
A seeond study in six selected coastal stations over
the perlod 1982-83 (HERMAN et al., 1984) demonstrated that
density and diversity of meiobenthic communities were much
thön in 1977-79.
Whether this was simple coincidence or due to long
term fluctuations of certain parameters could partly be
explained by investigating the 1980-81 sampIes.
Analysis
of this material provided for a continuous series of data
,
I
.l
.IS~O
IO~OO
BELGIUM
L __- l - -......--------..------------~-J.l,.'''·
Introduction
...
12~10
over mare than seven years.
In this study a quantitative and qualitative analysis
of the meiofauna is done for two sand , two muddy sand and
two mud stations. A detailed analysis of the harpacticoid
fauna of the Belgian coastal ~one is given.
rie· J.
Localisation of the six coastal stations.
All meiofauna sampling was done usir~ 10.2 em 3 plastie
cores. Sampies were fixed with warm formalin (70'C) to a
final eoncentration of ~Z. A supplementary core was used
for sediment analysis.
The methods for elutriation of the
f2una, biomass and sediment analysis are deseribed in HEIP
et ~l., (1979).
For the harpac:ticoid eopepod eommunity
spl,cies diversity was estimated using Brillouin's formula
and evennnes was c:alculated using the Heip-, the Pielouanel tloe Al atal o-i ndex.
Furthermore t~1O mLil ti di mensi onal
statistie analyses were applied to the Harpactieoid
community : Correspondenee analysis was executed following
Lefebvr~ (1976) and cluster analysis methods as described
in Legendre anel Legendre (19791.
·i
"
-1-
-2--
4 I.
-12.
I JiJle 2.
Lompohitiol of ehe IOeiofduna : d"n~ity (!'..IUClIi 2), m"",, .. nd
dominance per taxon for all samplin daea for th thr
8edimene
(OUps.
R••ulta .nd diacu.s1on.
oAI D STATION.
S'E'dlrr.ent comp"!:lt1on of t' e,
able 1.
SI;.
Si
The me an rr.edlan grznn SlZt? o·f
tuns lS Ilbted 1-,
tt-ie s.:.>l.d
fra
1011(J0
'1.11
1
··'I'ArlO)
I 1nl..,.·j Idol
1"ltHt\.'
tl h .. <l la
r 11tH .1Il.~
•
Stat ion
Lat.
N
Long. E
% Sand
I~'
.5
'.5
5LJ.O 81.5.0
19.0
345.5
'.5
10. "j
1 1 • ..,
/.5
\,0
1.5
1.0
n.5
O. ,
11.0
\,0
I o~n
11."
1.5
\,0
111000
Inlll.O '1'1.
46. 'i
11150
11150
! J I~O
J.(1jl
5.00
9.00
J5.5
4JLS
11'.5
/l.5
2.0
"O.S
Mt' .e;
1/)4. 'j
) l.n
2.0
/0.0
lJ.O
In.n
n.o
10,"
\,5
11.0
111.0
1.5
1.0
5.5
0.5
5.5
21.~
1.0
lo.n
1,0
rw:r,)nf'J
1.n
0.5
1. 0
0."
1.5
,..n
/.0
'.5
I .•
j
I
1'i,O
(.J. "
I I I ~.(l
J.,II
4 • ~ I 0],'.
.U
441. ..
Ifl.'l
'.5
I}
'"r,
tl.1I
.- 2.0
11.0
7.111
~fo
Il,lI
12fl ,I';
~ ••• 0
1.5
10.0
l'i ,n
11.fl
I l.O
.If1.0
Ln
I~. 5
1.5
11 0
0.5
I .'
1.0
10. 'i
, ,rCllni
I
loS
I.,
21<
'H,s
'10
Ir.. lI'Jln{ .... n
l·rl"II<')')
"
IU.ti
16.fI
}.Cl
1.0
01110
In
.'44,(1 114 .... :.' Pt... J7
l'J •• 1 r•• q
14.
In 0
.1 ••'
1 •.1'1
n
11.11
12.\1
7<1.2
11. '1
0.')
? 0
1.6
6,7
"'.5
(J. S
'LU
11. II
(I,S
U ./1
(. ,n
lori
1.0
{I. ~
,r.. No"'.]
LI/I·rl.'
/ - r,t;/
Grain size
Md
1.0 I
'i.RO
'rll·J'"
,11
Coordinates of the six coastal stations and sediment
characteristics over the 1982-83 period, (Mean grain
size of the sand fraction, mean % mud and sand).
I ....
, ....11(;..,'"'
,
0JJO
).110
1 )'on
I
Table 1.
10""0
tlw!1
for the c astal zone ISO. 198 mn,.
The sej mer,
corr.pos1l1 :Jr,
15 rath.:r ;;table f r all stations In the 1980 -I per od.
ThE m... <1 cuntent is t~le most varIable con'roonen·.
The 001 f
8r~
~c p~ionbl
value was noted for th
pure ~and statj~.)
lO(J80 ,.:'er
In Sep te."ber 1980 an aberran t val' e of ~'2. 4 ~.
mud WdS found, prob:'bly due to a navI9",tior, e,·ror.
(1.'1
5,°'7'00"
02°31'00"
0.205
3.2
93.4
11150
51°16'32"
02°5\'08"
0.332
1.4
96.2
10500
51°'" 06"
02°42'04"
0.189
5.7
93.6
12510
51°26'58"
03°21 '45"
0.185
7. \
92.8
11315
51°19'30"
03°03'00"
0.179
44.7
55.3
11880
51°22'00"
03°09'15"
0.103
81.0
~ruDDY
I. no
».. ft'~frvtb
0, .1(.
0,111
(1,111
~
(I, If
t.1I
n.4'
....
)74
110)
JJ<l9
(Cf
.)1
Ir.)"'1
I1
1I
I)
P
lJ
I'
18.7
"·'rn,y;tlcol·l.,
IllrhJ:>II •.1t 1.,
i""
("tc lr.fl ...
1\, ChIMI1('
l.l"!"
I
(~It'jr~l ..
T~~o~o.ic
group Jlverslty
Tne rnel0fauna of the Si. coastal btatlon~ telong~ te
thlrtEen la:<onomic g("UL.pS (tab.
2).
The mos' Important
taxa are Nematoda, Harpactlcolda, Tur'bell arli' "Ld
Gastrotricha.
Less im~lortant taxa are Archla"nellda,
Halacarlda, T",rdigrada, interstitial Polycha ~a, Ostracoda,
Hydrozoa, Oligochaeta, Rotlfera and Nem ("tini.
The H,ean "umber o·f tax a i s hi ~her than I n pr vi Ol!S
st"d es (HERI'!AN et al., 1984,1985).
Thi s i s demonstr"tE-u
In flg.
::: where the trend "alues of the me"
number of
t xa pe~ sampIe lS plotted for the SlX coasta
stations lor
th2 1 77-1983 period.
Th
me an va1ues for t~.l.! three stul;,
penolJs are:
Coast a1
l
"ne
.Jest üf Ost ",nd
East
lolfdl'1(,)"a
"I hOlC'a
1,"i'C.JC I III
4.7
8.9
5.8
6.7
4.4
I
lO.til
4J2.~
1.11
J.n
14.'
5n.O
•. 0
71.0
I'). ~
14.U
I~'. Ij
11.0
19.0
?52.<l
•• ~
11.fJ
S? .11
)1. '\
l).0
0.5
!ll.n
,"I.n
';1,0
n{). 5
LU
1. ~
I. CI
}."
11 '.0
11,",
U. 'i
n. ~
n. "\
11. ~
1,11
~
I .ll
/J.
'of
I
LI',
'i7LQ.lJ
447,'"
J.f'
r..11
'1.1J
~
(,'';'j.n 1717,11 11/1 , t
I), ~
I,H
I' ,
) l.",
n. r
I I.,'
I' .ll
1'1,"
I.n
1.0
1,11
:'.11
1.11
Cl,';
I. JJ
0.1\
11,1 1 1
1."1
IJ.I
I/.P
j1. ,'~
n.t
O. fl/
1,0
0,'/
11,1
).1\
Cl. ~
I,'.
11./11
11.1(.
<.1
tI.l'l
lI,l'l
11, ] ••
('.1
I, "1
11 .1
.'\.11
1'.'.1
"7.1,
1.,(1
1.1 1
'11"
"'i.t l "
I
I ,.~.
i!'
!.'tl
IM I"
tt'(,...o
'"It.,t.'
J.'l
2.6
;loell.\ru
4.5
o.lSUOLlld\d.
01)
2Q'O
704
11
R
7
0/1
o
'HIP
C,
4"R
')'1)(1
/(.0
)
I'
7
I I. 2
I
(1
I'
IIl15
IIJl5
IUL5
IOIS
IDIS
IbllO
IBOO
IISeo
1180n
l1edO
11000
5.80
9.lIO
7.Bl
7.31
10.BI
l •• O
5.BO
'1.80
J.dl
7.81
10.!1
21S.0
626.0
1.0
15.0
1271.~
'34.S
'68.0
HO. S
O. S
19.5
7.0
1.5
'13.5
.5
J. 5
la.5
0.5
.41.l
'OJ.U
5.0
2.5
190., ' •. oe
0.5
.0
LO
0.5
".1 IO.Z'
'.0 II J2
G.5
0.5
'.5
10.5
0.5
6.S
2, ,
l.5
1'.1112
lda
t(JlfChtet.·ft.et_
ftxJlt
C.. m
0.0
0.5
0.0
I.S
0.5
La
C.O
60
3
-3-
0.5
,· .. ··,ch"·tll ...JlO""ln
0
3.0
1.HL
n~7.0
:.('f"tllfll
1 ,1J..:C.x::1OOld,
,:,.8
J.Rl
,,!;t'). S
(11/ n:h.'r.,.,
4."ff.dt
1977,-]<)
1geO-PI
1982-E'
",,1111
ttll.S :'1170.11
128.
•
9JJ
,
)14
.8
-Ij-
)
:G
•
,
11
6l
2
IH
7
11, 1I
1.(.
SAND STATIONS
,,,
I. ·1"
11.1.'
11, ~
11.1
mm
10080
I'. I
0, I'
\~
0 . .,1
~.I
0.01
0.01
44.
43.
.,
2
c
0
I
~
kbo
."
~
~O
,.,
N
~
~
'" 8
0
'"
.
8
0
0
0
0
...
0
I
0
0
N
-5-
0
0
I
0
. ..:
...
.
.....
~
'-'N
o I
Ei
u
0
T
....2
~
."
<::
a
:<
.........<::
....
'-'
....
0
" I
QI
~
::>
<::
~
•
~
-"
0
..
.,
~
~
~
01)
..
't:l
0
.....
aQI
:z
.
...
... -"
.... ....
QI
•p
.;
:-
~
...
~'lU
0
QI
."
QI
.. -
.~
~
....'-' '"'"
'" -"'-''"
"
.. ...."
II
0
I
lJ".?sity.
.....C>l.
....
.,
1 i .•."1
I)).
I
0
u
::>
\.?
~
0'"
.'"
....."
.."
J.~
<~~"
. t\'0
.......
....0
~<l
~~
\ .~
0'"
su
3
.,
0
I
0
;:
.
~
N
Again this study demonstrat~s that the zone east of
Ostend is markedly poorer than the Western part of the
coastal zone: the number of taxa is half thdt fuund in the
more sc.ndy area west of Ostend.
0
,,;
co
'"
.....
.....
'"
....'-'" '"'"'" o
....
. P...::> .... A0
't:l
;)
I,
QI
.......
.. '5
e " ......
U
::>
",
't:l
QI
~
QI
'-'
00
<::
0
,..l
'0
....
ci
0
I
...
~
~I
0
I
0
~
Tl'2 overall medrl meiofauna density for tI,e 80-81
perIod is 1.2 10' ind.m-2.
The mean number per ta,:on for
the three station groups for each sampling date i3 li~ted
In table 2.
The me an density both for the sand and muddy
sand stations IS 1.6 10i ind.
m-2.
In the mud stations a
rather low mean density of 0.44 10' ind.
m-2 was found.
MaxImum values are 8.B 10' ind.
m-2 (10080, Sept.
'80)
dnd 5.8 10' ind.
m-2 (12510, Sept.
'80). 11inimum
densities are noted In the pure mud ~tation 11880 : 0.02
10 6 ind.
m-2 •• ( Sept. 'BO) and 0.03 10· ind.
m-2 (March
'80) •
The most dominant taxon are the Nematoda, with resp •
88.4 X dominance in the sand stations, 95.1 X in the muddy
sand and 98.5 X in the mud stations.
Fram the other meiofaunal taxa, anly harpacticoid
copepods, turbellarians and gastrotrichs may be of some
importance.
An exceptionally high harpacticoid density was
recorded at the mud station 11315 in July '81 <0.47 10'
ind.
m-2 or 52 X).
In the muddy sand and mud stations the
second dominant taxon are the Turbellaria.
Although
extraction of preserved sampies yields the best results for
the maJorlty of turbellarians (MARTENS, 1984), densities
are to be considered dS minimal estimates •
Except for Gastrotricha the importance of other
meiofdunal taxa is generally negligible (less than 0.5 X).
0
QI
"
0
N
Bio.ass •
B~cause nematodes generally are superdominant within
the meiofauna, biomass fluctuations are very weil
correlated with density change. in this taxon (fig.
2) •
The average individual biomass, estimated for the May '80
and the October '81 sampies, is 0.38 pg dwt.
ind-l.
The
ffiQan individual biomass for the sand, sandy mud and mud
stations is resp.
0.54 ~g dwt, 0.51 pg dwt and 0.19 pg dwt
per nematode.
Due to the rather low nematode density found,
especially in the mud stations, the total me an biomas~ is
slightly lower than in other years (see fig.
2).
This
figure clearly shows the yearly periodicity both for
dellsity and biomass over the 1977 - 1983 period, with an
absolute minimum for the March 1980 sdmples.
2
-~-
45.
lable 3.
T~,E> ,near, density of the h ..... paclicoid l:op'.!pcds fo .... <>!I
samplln~ 1ata per E~jim2nt type is givE'n in t.bles 3,4 .nd
~.
TI-,': :;t?ilr'. t.:t=l1sit·1 in sarldy sedimpnts i5 97 Inc.
tn t.-rn~.
~Irdch 1~ L.0f11pclrittjle l:.; tJttlt:·,- studies In sJmi]~;'"' sedi:nent=-4
",,,_tl c.<; q;e'EIr'EL '1973,1976), AtWAR~· ELt11,ROJ (1770>,
IC080 10Ceo 10000 lOIlllO 10080 100110 IU50 11150 11150 11150 11150 11150
J.fO
·iPt!.-vcl~i"" N'eovls'!tt'S.
'cr-JJr'I"t!la "'inor
(..a"uplLJ uorpl@ •.,
'TI"
~_ (J
Species composition and dominance of the Harpacticoida in
the sand stations 10080 and, 11150 per sampling date.
;);I{'<;1''ll1(}lS .",cactlcold. 1961l-1981
ELMSREt'J et a!.
(1984) and COULL (1985). in ""ic" densi':,t
'-N"gi"'; b",tw'?l?n 8~ "nd 118 ind.
pe ... 10 cm'Z.
: , l',.." ""'d'J~ 53"'1 ,)nd main~y in the :nur! ;; .. nple<;' dsnsity
dr.';: S ":0 v>ery 1 C:.J n"n be... s. ThE' "'ean den,i t y ; -; .... E?:=p. 8 .nd ::;
i"dl ,li ,11,~ls p",r Cll:'. In most ;;:lutJie5, such 2" [)ODIN (1984),
AFLT /19'5.1977), M~nR • ELMGREN (1978) and MOORE (1979),
thp
:,,11 "« 1 UPS .:\,'e gene .... .311 y much hi ghe....
(r' CI"ge : 11 - 1 75
1 nf~.
•
H•
Tn t~is st~d,t 35 specles b~Ionging tc 14 families we.... e
fpur:d.
;hey ",re listed in table 6; twenty sr:E?cies occu ....
o"ll,t ",ce.
Th ... most f .... equpnt spo,cies a .... e Paraleptastacus
espl",dähs (f = !f,), 'fi.;,roarthriJion littorale (f= 11),
Halectincsoma sar,i and Leptastacus ldticaudatus whleh are
found ,.t 10 of the 3: s3nJpl ing dates.
The familles Cflind .... opsyllidae, Paramescchrid3e,
Ectinnso~.tidae, Amei .... idae and Diossacid2e are
qualitatively best represented by resp.
9,9,3,7 and 6
speci~s.
Ouantit~lively, the most importan~ families er~
Tachidiidi'e (291.). Ectinosc.malidae (20,9 'l.).
Cylindrop.yIlida~ (20,6 'l.!, Amei .... idae (0,7 1.1 3nd
Fa'· ... 'H'''önc 1,,-1 Li",>? (8,3 1.).
:n .a~dy sediments, 43 speeies belonging to 11
faffiilies a~e found, while in muddy sand only 25 species
OCCl'.....
In Mud stations the 11 speeies fOLlnd belong to 7
families, of whieh 7 t,tpicaIly phytal forms occur only cnce.
DthEr community pa .... amete.... s, such aS dive.... sity and
E'i2nnRSs, .efl~cl the impoverishment of the ha... pacticoid
fallna fOL'nd in fIIO:t of the mud and muddy sand stations.
A
MPan numb ..... of 4 species per sampie is found Fo .... the total
l:ClC.st al ,0, "'3 '7 ~rJp.
West, 1 .p.
Easl of Qstend).
':hi s
,ellllt.s in CI lew dive .... sity both fo ... the Shannan-Wiene~
irdE';: H' and fo.... the eri I louin index H :
0.5
0.36 t.i tsl1 nd
0.34 bits/i nd
1.97 bitslind
1.56 bits/inJ
4.0
0.5
10.0
0.5
2.0
8.0
6.0
1.0
h~lina
Il!lcb:rl~nr-a
'oo't:'tasUCU'i laticaudatUl! Int.rn'E'diLB
[...@~'t'f"O"th
eutv1cauda
i'.1cal('f:ta!tae~ .~pinulatus
PtUdlp~tast.acUl tw'llt..etic ...
i U J:~ptAStac~ sp1nlca uda
frhyrirooc"..
l
1.0
2.0
'r"'tI!ln fervula
t"tfitr 1f'rt~a:hr. pul t ta.ll_
~/'''''"U1.d ry'Jfl8@a
11.5
7.5
0.5
1.5
0.5
1.0
~.5
2.5
]J.O
0.5
2.0
0.5
5J.5
5.5
7.0
0.5
2.5
1.5
2.0
5.5
P.5 128.5
••0
0.5
2.5
1.5
0.5
1.0
1.5
1.0
2.0
2.0
2.5
0.5
4.5
17.0
0.5 19.5 12J.O
1.0
1.5
2.5
1.0 28.5
4.5
0.5
1.0
ft~inqutl'l
5
6
l'
5
1.0
2.5 51.0
59.0 152.5
1.0
n.o 7).5
0.5
1.5
0.5
J)
41
10
12
=
=
=
-8-
,,
115
11
255
18
91
lJ
6.5
6.5
5.0
0.5
0.5
1.0
1.5
10
1
5.0
P2.0
r.~.
1.1
I.I!
r.o
o. !
~
0.5
0.5
4.5
..
1.5
0.5
0.5
C.]
1."'-'
C., C. ;)
0.2 O.P
1.2 1.::
I.d I.~ I
2.0
0.5
20.5
29.5
C.1
C.6
2.0
C.C.
r.11
".65
2.11
o.!
0.5
:Ittcdld.. .",.1'
1lA..... tal lrdlviduM
9.5
0.5
J.O
'r
'.81 IC.!I
c.n
0.5
1.0
1.0
11a~:imal divtcrsity value5 " .... e found in the sand station
111'::0 ~I:th H
::.52.
The minimum is H
Cl in bolh mud
utati{~s l1080 and 11315 wh~... e often only one 0 .... no
hi.,'paL.tictJid cClpepod oCClIrs.
The fIIean H
0.88 .. hich iE;
sli'J"tly lcwE'r tllan the ".e... n 82-83 value of H = 0.96.
The
t 3thet
low mE:'drt Simpsun's iniJe-x SI
0.'2.7 m~.:;.ns that in
most c~mples often mo.... e than one species is ~ominant.
-'(-
2.0
r"yllooetJ'f';a
"~iri1.. SP..
'f).')1r.:rsvlh.. 'I'.A
Ci'" U1roo.U.. ..,c:mda •• 1.
'1 it'T_feYl1us CDf'Str ict........
rlicr~llus t'tolsattcU'!l 1.5.
tllCTSVllus earahol~at1cUl
tcrt(T~llus sn."
pi'!( .,..~cd1ra sp. C"Jelklf'
:<'Ct toosyll t.8 !mt tetJ5. 1It1 na
!ro.."""yl h .. S<x>t !«>•• sp.C
,-I('rrcar il bifiiJa
,IIr~!Y'OJntia 5'P.A
n','l i'"lir~syllU! rerranel
0.5
1.5
1.0
1.0
2.0
,II,..ua hrf'vlCP1
!1C'cr'fJtiri
J.81
C.5
3"Tnl,l!OC:Ol~f'S ~('bll1s
:.'T."h'!Cl.:tI v.n lan!l
fu rc-hlKC'CJC81' lOrT.IlfOlStrh
''"'eH!
9.M
0.5
1.5
rartylC1lO::Jla vu11acl!J
• .\r-t \1.1 51»C1H
=
5.110
0.5
5.5
11.0
Itc:ro.uthL ldion littorale
i'J,,:t-,fO furc'lta
's-r'~l"'('t(ra
J.IIO
4.0
0.5
0.5
0.5
t'! .. u',*n~a ~dulna
East
West
W
H
"!l('(·t Il"("t;cra sau i
'!f:t11l!"reolla hrtcrlerM
1.81 10.81
0.5
Jlpct lJ1U'C"'" Mr(\'rl...,t
, .. l""'C"tINEt:W"'a r["(~inr.ulJ"
J.81
1.0
0.5
t
I
9.~O
0.5
'r"'I"'cr.f'~l1a :Jr.... C'Y"r-dnl::.a
a J~ct irtasCJ"ll qoth!ce ~!
C /1,2) •
5.110
441
15
C.I
0.1
0.0
r.o
1.1
1.0
1.2
2.7
0.1
0.1
C.O
0.2
0.':'4
C.~9
0.11
O.C<
".~4
1.<0
C. 0 9
I. Jl
:.P.O
r. ]1)
0.11
(.e<
C.22
r.o LO<
C.5 (.41
16.5 2'.1 25.C9
0.9 O.9'i
0.'5
( .2 r.ll
1.0 1.01
0.2 O.P
0.2 0.22
C.O C.N
0.1 C.~6
0.'5
0.0 O.C.
6.'5 6,' 7.C6
19. '5 JI •• 11.<0
1.5
0.' 0.4)
J.O 11.1 11.49
C.4 0.41
0.2 0.17
0.1 O.ll'
0.0 0.04
74
U
91
41
..
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ge.
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......
Table
1;.
Dominan~e
~aters
fer
and
freq~eney (s~~pling
l~e l~aU-81
~:i€S
I
~
(3
I
Canuella perplexa
Arenosetellagenr..germanica
Haleetinosoma herdmani
H. propinquum
H. sarsi
Pseudobradya beduina
Euterpina aeutifrons
Microarthridion littorale
Dactylopodia tisboides
Amphiascoides debilis
Amphiascus varians
Psa=otopa phyllosetosa
Ameira hyalina
A. parvula
Interleptomesoehra eulitoralis
Proameira sp. A
Apodopsyllus sp. A
Kliopsyllus holsaticus s.s.
K. paraholsatieus
Paramesoehra mielki
Seottopsyllus Seottop. minor
Arenopontia sp. A
Evansula pygmaea
Leptastaeus laticaudatus
Leptopontia eurvieauda
Paraleptastaeus espinulatus
data) of the Harpaetieoida per sp~eies in the Belgien coastal
periad (with abbreviations used in fig. 5 for the more frequent species).
f
Cpe
Age
Hhe
Epr
Hsa
Pbe
Eac
Mli
Dti
Ade
Ava
Pph
Ahy
Apa
leu
Pro
Apo
Kho
Kpa
PaM
SSm
Are
Epy
Lli
Leu
Pes
9
2.29
~-. ~.' ,- - ,- ::revi6etosa
5
0.70!~, .. _:;
;;.,r.0r
9
4.17
haleetinosoma gothieeps
4
5.01
Hastigerella leptoderma
10 3.77
Pseudobradya minor
9
6.07
Harpaetieus littcralis
3
7.50
risbe fureata
11 21.48
Dactylopodia vulgaris
3
1.45
Diarthrodes pygmaeus
5
1.28
Bulbamphiaseus imus
4
2.17
Para:nphiaseopsis longirostris
4
0.69
Stenhelia (D.) norm. normani
4
1.57
Ameira brevipes
9
5.11
Sicameira leptoderma
4
0.06
Ameiridae sp.
3
1.25
Diarthrodella seeunda s.s.
8
1.07
Kliopsyllus constrietus s.s.
6
5.78
Leptopsyllus sp. A
5
0.32
Seottopsyllus Seottopsyllus sp. C
4
0.25
Mesoehra pygmaea
3
0.19
Arenocaris bifida
3
0.62
Cylindropsyllus remanei
6
1.98
Paraleptastaeus holsatieus
10 7.44
P. spinieauda
4
0.12
Enhydrosoma propinquum
16 10.26
Cletodidae sp. A
%
D
I
Abr.
Specie.
._
Esola bulligera
Laophonte eornuta
Paralaophonte eongenera eongenera
f
;; D
I
0.01
20.14
2
0.25
2
0.05
I
0.33
1
0.55
1
0.04
2
0.37
I
0.48
2
1.30
1
0.01
1
0.24
2
0.33
I
0.03
1
0.37
1
0.30
1
0.19
I
0.14
1
0.19
2
0.87
I
0.04
1
0.01
2
0.09
2
0.06
1
0.18
I
0.01
1
0.27
I
0.48
1 0.24
I
•
0<
so.
Tt:~
ev~nneS$
fluctuatiens of the "'lsloLl-, Heip- aOld A13talo
indices follow an identical pattern, with the
Plelou-inde~ J ~Iways higher (flg.
3).
---Jf----.1
------'1---'
0.'
',\
J_.
E:o . . _.. __ .E~_._,_.
0,'
=========h
-------...,1-.0
========::::::;l~
_______1---'
======:::;-~f-f-'
,---~
I----->
========::=::Jf---, ... :
z
~
.
L
--~
I
:
~
~
~
~
:
_ - - 1 9 8 0 - - - - . ~(-----1981-----~~
FiCJ. 3.
Evolution of three evennes indexes for all stations over
the 1980-81 period : Pielou index 3, Heip index E'
and
Alatalo index E'21.
10
n,e highest values are noted in spring 1980, then
evenne~$ drops due to the appearance of mesopsammic species
to reaLh minimum values in Sept.'80, wh.,n Leptastacus
latjca~Jatus and Kliopsy//us ho/saticus become very
dominant.
In 1981 the equitability of the individuals
among ~~e species bec~mes better.
==:=.-__ J-i
--------,L.-,
-------r-LJ
I
-~
---------------'
-==;=t-.J
T~at
the composltion of the harpacticold comQunlties
rorrelatred with the sediment type is demonstrat~d
in the cluster diagrams (flg.
4).
Cluster ~nalysi~ :s
'::on"! wltt. t ..CJ similarity indie,,"s ,: the Sorenslin-index - c<
bi :1,U"/ lnde~ - on prese,nCd .er" Clbsenl e of spec i es L.,t w",,,,n
t,r,,~ st.itio'lS ard the Br'ay-CL>< lis-index which la~ .. ;, the
relati-.", dEonsll1ef> into C'CCCJl.l,-,t.
This ~,as done oneE fGr
i~ ~~ll
"net? für ':.6 5pt?c.:le~ after
ellmin~tiDrl cf all species with a frequency Icwer than ~.
The clusteriölg of the stations over the 55 species is
identical to Lhat ower 26 species for both indices, with an
pviden~ly higher degree of similarity for the 26 species.
With the 50rens~n similarity index one can see a net
sepdr.tion of the sand st~ticns fro~ the othe' ones,
~lLhou9h thls i5 better ill~strated by the Bray-Curtis
plots. These graphs shows a net separation of the sand
station 11150 both for the 26 and for the 55 species
Llu.ter.
Also one can see that ~ost sampIes of the other
two stations west of Ostend (10500 and 10080) are grouped.
il!1
'l.I
L--.. .
I
."
II
i
\.,
;; t
.'
tLc-::;5 ~:~jE~C.t:c"~ alld
----'----~
Fig. :..
-11-
-.
I
~
::
~
~
.e
!t ;
;;, !
.:: ;:
~
Cluster diagrams ower 55 and 26
- 12-
harpa~ticoid
sveeies (see teHt).
57.
51.
AX 3
Because there Nas no
anal
...coAr.
~
Aga
P 0
~or
ss-...-'---=---+--.----------------..---
1
'ix
[oe
the 55 Lind
mar~ed
~6
difference
spt:.·ci ~s,
b~tween clu~ler
co..- respol
,d~nce
CONCLUDING REMARKS
C~nsldering
the evolution of the total rnelofauna from
1977 t111 1983 one sees tr,at peak values for all parameter's
studi"'d ",re noted in SU/f,mer '82.
In the f1rst study period
(1977-79) there was an incr.,.sing trend both for
melub~nthlc divers1ty and for density ",nd biomass.
Denslty
and biumass d",c..-easl? sllghtl~i in the 80-81 per'iod and reaeh
2
8
28
a
Qvt;or
analysIs ür reclproe.:..l averaglng was done fur the sm",llest
speeie~ group on lhe 80-81 data (flg.
5).
T~e abbreviations for the species used in this grdph
~re listed in table 6.
Two principal a~es are plolted buth
für species and for stations.
It is rather difflcult to
expldin what all axes mean in ecologlcal terms and alloeate
thern to one of the numGr~us parameters acting wlthin an
eeoslstem.
In this study one can give a reasonable
e.pl~nation for the two a~es in the analysis of this
harpdctl::oi d commUll1 tles.
A.• I ls strongly correlated with sedIment.
In the top
]raph :fi~. 5) one can distlnguish on the left a group of
represant~tives of the pure sand fauna.
On the rlght of
tt,,,, r;r",ph the mud-d ••oller HicrDdrthridlDn littorale (Mli)
.S netly separated from dn Intermediate group scattered
around the A. 3 which cerresponds wlth the diverse muddy
s.nd c~mmunlty. The same remarks ean be made for the
statluns (buttorn graph).
Most sampies of the sand station
11150 ~re concentrated in the left of thls graph, whlle on
the e~treme right we find the mud sampies wlth only H.
littor~l~ ; the bulk of the statIons form a very
heterogeneous intermediate group.
The parameter 'time' seems not to be of dlrect
importance because the stations remain in the same group
for sediment type and species composition.
3
A;(
.7
I
Y5t~S
11
3
tL e
--~-I--...l-'------+---3~O--.--------- __l:r-'~
-@
U
1
r
;< • .:..~:
1 ma
in" 82,.
H'le dlverslt)' of th", harpactieoid fauna from 1980
on~ards is cansiderably higher than 1n the prevlous years.
Ho~aver, eo~pared to other si~,lar environments (e.g.
MOORE, 1979; WILLEMS et al.,1982; eDDIN, 1984) denslty and
dl~er~lt)' are always low.
Tt,is studi demonstrates again that the meiofauna in
the Delgian coastal zone is 'poorer' eompared to other
localities Gi the North Sea.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
.18
21
Fig. S.
Correspondence analysis over 26 harpacticoid species (top)
and stations (bottom) in six stations off the Belgian coast
for the '80-81 data.(For station nurnbers see table 2).
-13 -
~,
~Ish to thanf
the Manauement Team of the
Mathematlcal Modol of the North Sea and the crew of the
R.V.
!lECHELEt~, R.V.
5PI'. and f'.V.
HAS5ELT f::.r assistance
on sed.
Alex Braeckman, Rudy Vanderhaeghen, Guy Desmet,
Dlrl '..17,,1 C.,.nsbele 2.1.:1 ~Ji~s Glj",~.. IIi'Jck ...."'ra .. ",sponsable for
con,pet",nt technieal as;;istar.ce, far ... hieh ..e dre imul<:nsel y
gratef..ll.
Cario Heip ackno•• leuges a grant from the
-1 ~ -
54.
53.
MARTENS, P.
1984. Comparison of three;different
extraction methods for Turbellaria. Mar.Ecol.Prog.Ser., 14:
229 -
234.
MODRE, C.G.
1979. Analysis of the associations of
meiobenthic Copepods of the Irish Sea. J.mar.biiol.Ass.U.K.,
59 : 831 - 849.
ECHEIBEL, W.
1973. Quantitativ-okoIogische
Untersuchungen am uferfernen Mesopsammon in de Kieler Bucht.
Kieler Meeresforsch. 29 (1) : 58 - 68.
SCHEIBEL, W.
1976. Quantitative Untersuchungen am
Meiobethos eines Profils unterschiedlicher Sedimente in der
westliche Ostsee. Helgolander wiss.Meeresunters. 28 : 31 42.
~JILLEMS, K.A., M. lJINCX, D. CLAEYS, C. VANOSMAEL ~ C.
HEIP,
1982.
Mei obenthos of a subli t toral sandbank in the
Southern Bight of the North Sea.
J.mar.biol.Ass.U.K., 62 :
535 -
Belgian Nati~nal S=ience Foundation (N~W0).
This research was supp~r~ed t~ough the C"ncerted
Action: Oceanogr3rhy ?roject of the !1inistry .Jf Scientif:=
rolicy and project FVFD 2-9(1(17.82 'Systematir; and Ecologl
of Marine Orgeni 511'S' of the Belgian National "_md For
Sciertlfi: R~search :NFWOI.
548.
'.
REFERENCES
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A 5tratified randorn sa~pling survey. Contra A~ko Lab., 11 :
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Merentutkirnuslait.Julk./Havsforskningsinst. S~r. No 239
27: - 279.
ARLT, G., 1977. Verbreitung und Artenspektrum der
Meiofauna im greifswalder Bodden. Wissenschaftliche
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Mathemati5~h-Naturwissenschaftliche
Reihe 26, Heft 2 :
217 ..
~2~.
BODIN, Ph., 1984. Densite de la meiofau,e et
peuple:nents de copepodes harpacticoides en Bale de
DOL'drnenez (Finistere). Ann.
Inst. ocanogr. 60
(1)
:
5-17.
COULL, B.C., 1985.
Long-term variability of estuarine
meiobenthos: an 11 year study.
Mar.Ecol.Pro~r.Ser. 24 (3):
205 -
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