Open AccessSeasonal composition and spatial distribution of macrobenthic associations along an estuarine gradient in Itanhaém, São Paulo, Brazil.
Author(s) -
Maria Teresa Valério-Berardo,
Máurea Nicoletti Flynn,
Lucirene Rodrigues,
F. S. Attollini
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
cicimar oceánides
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2448-9123
pISSN - 1870-0713
DOI - 10.37543/oceanides.v21i1-2.24
Subject(s) - estuary , benthic zone , brackish water , salinity , dominance (genetics) , canonical correspondence analysis , ecology , biology , macrobenthos , oceanography , habitat , environmental science , geology , biochemistry , gene
Macrobenthos distribution along the salinity gradient and the pattern of species temporal changes were investigated in the Itanhaém River Estuary. Environmental variables such as grain size, sediment organic content, water salinity, water temperature and dissolved oxygen were examined as factors likely to influence the distribution of species. A total of 2130 individuals, distributed in 16 taxa (species/genera) were collected from the 12 samples obtained. The most abundant species were Cyprideis salebrosa, Heteromastus similis, Scololepsis squamata, Nephtys squamosa, Diplodonta sp. and Tellina sp. The canonical ordinations analysis indicated the presence of three benthic associations: a marine Diplodonta sp. - Tellina sp. community; a brackish water C. salebrosa - N. squamosa community and a wide spread S. squamata - H. similis community. The distribution of the estuarine macrozoobenthic species seems to be mainly controlled by salinity and the observed gradient in species compositon and dominance in the marine and brackish part of the Itanhaém River Estuary is similar to the one occurring in other mixohaline habitats of the Brazilian Southeastern Coast.