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Epifauna living on sublittoral seaweeds around Cyprus

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Abstract

Macroepifauna living on sublittoral seaweeds were counted,identified and compared among six locations in Cyprus. Mollusks,amphipods, and polychaetes were the major taxa represented. Thedominant alga was Cystoseira barbata which was present at 4of 6 stations and ranged in wet weight from 1–2 kg m-2 ofbottom. Percent cover of C. barbata ranged from 25 to 90%.Other dominant algae were Laurencia obtusa, Padinapavonica, and Jania rubens. The distribution of epifaunaabundance, species composition, and species richness varied amonglocations. Total epifauna abundance ranged from 1000 to 2250animals m-2. The abundance of epifauna per gram of plant wassignificantly lower on C. barbata than on the other algalspecies. The total epifauna species richness was more related tolocal algal plant diversity than to plant biomass.

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Author notes

  1. Anthony R. Russo

    Present address: Science Division, Leeward College, University of Hawaii, Pearl City, Hawaii, 96782, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cypriot Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Anthony R. Russo

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  1. Anthony R. Russo
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Russo, A.R. Epifauna living on sublittoral seaweeds around Cyprus. Hydrobiologia 344, 169–179 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1002970714963

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