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Spatiotemporal dynamics of the molluscan community associated with seagrass on the western equatorial Atlantic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2019

Lorraine Lopes Cavalcante*
Affiliation:
Icthyology Laboratory, Centro de Estudos do Mar – CEM, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Av. Beira-mar, s/n, Caixa Postal: 61, CEP: 83255-976, Pontal do Sul – Pontal do Paraná, PR, Brazil
Cristiane Xerez Barroso
Affiliation:
Graduate Program on Marine Tropical Sciences, Instituto de Ciências do Mar -LABOMAR, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Av. da Abolição, 3207, Meireles, CEP: 60165-081, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil
Pedro Bastos de Macêdo Carneiro
Affiliation:
Campus Ministro Reis Velloso, Universidade Federal do Piauí, Av. São Sebastião, 2819, Bairro de Fátima, CEP: 64202-020, Parnaíba, PI, Brazil
Helena Matthews-Cascon
Affiliation:
Graduate Program on Marine Tropical Sciences, Instituto de Ciências do Mar -LABOMAR, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Av. da Abolição, 3207, Meireles, CEP: 60165-081, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil Departamento de Biologia, Centro de Ciências, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Rua Campus do Pici, s/n, Bloco 909, Pici, CEP: 60440-900, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil
*
Author for correspondence: Lorraine Lopes Cavalcante, E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

This study aimed to qualitatively and quantitatively analyse the molluscan assemblages associated with a Halodule wrightii seagrass bed in a rarely studied area within a conservation unit in north-eastern Brazil. Seasonal and spatial changes in several seagrass meadow characteristics, including sediment, were evaluated to explain temporal and spatial variations in the molluscs found there. The molluscan community differed in its structure among periods and meadows, as well as in the composition of its infaunal and epifaunal assemblages. The results of this study indicated that molluscs are affected by the particular characteristics of a seagrass meadow, especially by its location in the intertidal zone, more than by the area of the meadow. Molluscs were also affected by other characteristics of the seagrass meadow, such as above-ground biomass and shoot density. Changes in all molluscan assemblages were also mediated by differences among months and seasons in this region of the western equatorial Atlantic, but not by seasonal changes of the meadow. The studied meadow was found to be one of the densest in Brazil, which has considerable importance to its associated fauna.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2019 

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