Diel Variation in the Structure of Seagrass-Associated Epibenthic Macroinvertebrate Communities

Abstract

Epibenthic macroinvertebrate community structure (species composition, numbers of individuals and species, and relative abundance distributions) were examined at 4 study sites in the northeast Gulf of Mexico (Apalachee Bay, Florida, USA). The relative abundance distribution changes with time of sampling (diurnal or nocturnal) because individual species become more or less numerically abundant in nocturnal samples. The number of individuals collected was significantly different between diurnal and nocturnal samples at 3 of the 4 study sites. The degree of day/night variation appears to be associated with habitat complexity (as defined by plant biomass and red algae volume) for number of individuals, but not for number of species, collected. The inadequacies and consequences of reliance on an exclusively diurnal epibenthic sampling program for a good representation of macroinvertebrate community structure are discussed.

Faunistic analysis of the caridean shrimps inhabiting seagrasses along the NW coast of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea

“…These are numerically dominant epifaunal species associated with SAV throughout the Western Atlantic, both in temperate (Zostera and Halodule) and tropical (Thalassia, Halodule and Syringodium) seagrass beds, as well as in drift macroalgae (Dugan 1982, Greening & Livingston 1982, Livingston 1984. The distribution of the arrow shrimp spans from Massachusetts to Curaςao, including Yucatán and Panama (Chace 1972, Román-Contreras & Martínez-Mayén 2009.…”

“…Estuarine decapod crustaceans, particularly the infraorder Caridea, are a numerically important component of the communities of invertebrates associated with submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) (Bauer 1985, Sheridan & Minello 2003, Barba et al 2005. Several studies have indicated the importance of crustaceans as a primary food source for fish (Greening & Livingston 1982, Llansó et al 1998, as mesoherbivores controlling periphytic algae (Kitting 1984, Jernakoff 1996, in reducing seagrass mortality as a vehicle of energy transference from epiphytes through caridean biomass to upper trophic levels (Llansó et al 1998, Mazzella et al 1992, in recycling nutrients through the fecal pellets of resident populations (Meyer et al 1983) and as migratory populations .…”

A Comparison of Macroepifauna Among Vegetated and Unvegetated Habitats in a South Florida Estuary Using a Passive Sampling Gear

“…Overall differences in abundance of fauna among seagrasses may have become even more apparent over shorter time periods. Greening and Livingston ( 1982), for example, found significant differences in the number of invertebrates captured between day and night in seagrass beds in northern Gulf of Mexico. Thus, our results may provide a conservative estimate of habitat preferences.…”

Composition and abundance of decapod crustaceans in mixed seagrass meadows in the Paraguaná Peninsula, Venezuela

“…In our study, the dominant species include Hippolyte obliquimanus and Latreutes parvulus (Hippolytidae). Equivalent samplings in the nearby Colombian Guajira Peninsula have yielded a richness of 23 decapods, the most frequent species being Tozeuma carolinense Kingsley, 1878 (Hippolytidae) (Aguirre-Aguirre et al, 2007), which is considered one of the most common invertebrates in the epifauna of the western Atlantic (Heck, 1979;Greening & Livingston, 1982). This latter species was notably absent from our study site; however, it has been proposed that other small-sized and morphologically similar species within Hyppolytidae, such as Thor manningi Chace, 1972, may be ecologically equivalent to T. carolinense in some habitats (Bauer, 1985a).…”