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Helgoländer Meeresuntersuchungen

, Volume 52, Issue 2, pp 147–158 | Cite as

Macrofauna on flood delta shoals in the Wadden Sea with an underground association between the lugwormArenicola marina and the amphipodUrothoe poseidonis

  • D. Lackschewitz
  • K. Reise
Article

Abstract

Living conditions for macrofauna on flood delta shoals are determined by surf, strong currents and sediment mobility. Thus, a unique assemblage of invertebrate species colonize these far off-shore, low intertidal flats. We here describe the macrobenthic fauna of emerging shoals in the Wadden Sea between the islands of Römö and Sylt. Besides ubiquitous macroinvertebrates of the intertidal zone and species which attain their main distribution in the subtidal zone, the flood delta shoals are characterized by organisms adapted to live in these highly unstable sediments, like the polychaetesSpio martinensis, Streptosyllis websteri, Magelona mirabilis, Psammodrilus balanoglossoides, the pericarid crustaceansCumopsis goodsiri, Tanaissus lilljeborgi, Bathyporeia sarsi and a few others. Average abundance (1440 m−2 of ind >1 mm) and biomass (12.9 g AFDW m−2) were low compared to other intertidal habitats in the Wadden Sea. Biomass was dominated by largesized individuals of the lugwormArenicola marina. The U-shaped burrows of these polychaetes were inhabited by high numbers ofUrothoe poseidonis. Maximum densities of these amphipods occurred in the deepest parts of the burrows. Sampling at approximately montly intervals revealed no apparent seasonality ofU. poseidonis abundance. Together with smallCapitella capitata, these amphipods constitute a deep-dwelling component of the macrofauna associated with lugworms, which is separated from all other macrofauna living at the sediment surface. As a response to rising sea level and increasing tidal ranges, we expect the unstable sandy shoals, inhabited by numerousSpio martinensis andUrothoe poseidonis, to expand within the Wadden Sea at the cost of stable sandy flats with abundant macrofauna.

Keywords

Macoma Balthica Ripple Sand Crangon Crangon Macrobenthic Fauna Cerastoderma Edule 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Biologische Anstalt Helgoland 1998

Authors and Affiliations

  • D. Lackschewitz
    • 1
  • K. Reise
    • 1
  1. 1.Biologische Anstalt HelgolandWattenmeerstation SyltListGermany

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