Meiofauna organisms that play an important role in the trophic ecology of soft bottom benthos, have short life cycles and they respond quickly to disturbance and pollution. The present study shows the spatio-temporal variation ofsubtidal meiofauna (metazoans passing a 500im sieve but retained on meshes of 40-63micro m) in four shallow subtidal stations. Samples were taken in the sandy beach of San Luis, in the Northeastern coast of Venezuela, from October 2005 until September 2006.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVenezuela possesses a great variety of coastal environments allowing for a high diversity of marine species. However, systematic studies on marine invertebrates are scarce, especially on polychaetes. The family Syllidae is poorly known, and only 14 genera and 42 species have been reported from this country.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSeasonal variations of polychaetes in a Thalassia testudinum bed were studied from June 2000 to April 2001 in Chacopata, northeastern Venezuela. Eight replicate samples were taken monthly with a 15 cm diameter core and the sediment was passed through a 0.5 mm mesh sieve.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe polychaetes epibiontic on the mollusk Spondylus americanus Hermann, 1781 were extracted from mollusks hand-collected at a depth of 10-30 m in Mochima National Park, Venezuela (10 degrees 21'00" N-63 degrees 23'36" W), using scuba diving gear. Forty-three polychaete species were identified on the 32 bivalve specimens analyzed. The Serpulidae included 17 especies, Eunicidae six and Terebellidae four species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo study the community of mollusks associated to Thalassia testudinum, monthly samplings were made between January and December 2002 in four localities of the Bay of Mochima. A PVC corer, of 14.8 cm of diameter, was used for sampling; eight monthly replicates were taken in each locality.
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