Abstract
Meiofauna was sampled using SCUBA along 4 transects from 5 to 30 m depth in Algoa Bay, South Africa. Substrates were well-sorted medium to fine sands with traces of sewage pollution in some areas. Meiofauna numbers recorded in the upper 10 cm of sediment were 55 to 584 10 cm-2, but total numbers, including deeper-living animals, were 680 to 2090 10 cm-2 at 6 stations. Longer cores showed meiofauna to be abundant down to at least 35 cm, and samples of interstitial water taken from this depth in the sediment were 7% saturated with oxygen. This is the first detailed record of meiofauna penetration into sub-littoral sand and stresses the need for long cores for quantitative work. Nematode numbers were found to be significantly related to nitrogen in the sand while interstitial harpacticoid numbers were related to median particle diameters, which determine pore space. Effects of sewage were slight and only one station showed notable enrichment, increased meiofaunal numbers and extreme dominance by nematodes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Arlt, G.: Vertical and horizontal microdistribution of the meiofauna in the Greifswalder Bodden. Oikos (Suppl.) 15, 105–111 (1973)
Bougis, P.: Analyse quantitative de la microfaune d'une vase marine à Banyuls. C. r. hebd. Séanc. Acad. Sci., Paris 222, 1122–1124 (1946)
Coull, B.C.: Shallow water meiobenthos of the Bermuda platform. Oecologia (Berl.) 4, 325–357 (1970)
Damodaran, R.: Meiobenthos of the mudbanks of Kerala coast. Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. (Sect. B) 38B, 288–297 (1972)
Dinet, A.: Distribution quantitative du méiobenthos profond dans la région de la dorsale de Walvis (Sud-Oest African). Mar. Biol. 20, 20–26 (1973)
Elmgren, R.: Benthic meiofauna as indicator of oxygen conditions in the Northern Baltic proper. Merentutkimuslait. Julk. (Havsforsk-Inst. Skr., Helsingf.) 239, 265–271 (1975)
Fenchel, T. and B.-O. Jansson: On the vertical distribution of the microfauna in the sediments of a brackish-water beach. Ophelia 3, 161–177 (1966)
— and R.J. Riedl: The sulfide system: a new biotic community underneath the oxidised layer of marine sand bottoms. Mar. Biol. 7, 255–268 (1970)
Hulings, N.C. and J.S. Gray: (Eds.) A manual for the study of meiofauna, 84 pp. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press 1971 (Smithson. Contr. Zool. No. 78)
——: Physical factors controlling abundance of meiofauna on tidal and atidal beaches. Mar. Biol. 34, 77–83 (1976)
Marcotte, B.M. and B.C. Coull: Pollution, diversity and meiobenthic communities in the North Adriatic (Bay of Piran, Yugoslavia). Vie Milieu 24, 281–300 (1974)
Mare, M.F.: A study of a marine benthic community with special reference to the micro-organisms. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 25, 517–554 (1942)
McIntyre, A.D.: Meiobenthos of sub-littoral muds. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 44, 665–674 (1964)
—: Ecology of marine meiobenthos. Biol. Rev. 44, 245–290 (1969)
— and D.J. Murison: The meiofauna of a flatfish nursery ground. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 53, 93–118 (1973)
McLachlan, A.: Studies on the psammolittoral meiofauna of Algoa Bay, 154 pp. Ph.D. thesis, University of Port Elizabeth, South Africa 1975
Moore, H.B.: The muds of the Clyde Sea area. III. Chemical and physical conditions; rate and nature of sedimentation; and fauna. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 17, 325–358 (1931)
Morgans, J.F.C.: Notes on the analysis of shallow-water soft substrata. J. Anim. Ecol. 25, 367–387 (1956)
Newell, R.: The role of detritus in the nutrition or two marine deposit feeders, the prosobranch Hydrobia ulvae and the bivalve Macoma balthica. Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 144, 25–45 (1965)
Renaud-Mornant, J.C., B. Salvat and C. Bossy: Macrobenthos and meiobenthos from the closed lagoon of a Polynesian atoll. Maturei Vavao (Tuamotu). Biotropica 3, 36–55 (1971)
Scheibel, W.: Quantitative Untersuchungen am Meiobenthos eines Profils unterschiedlicher Sedimente in der westlichen Ostsee. Helgoländer wiss. Meeresunters. 28, 31–42 (1976)
— and W. Noodt: Population densitiies and characteristics of meiobenthos in different substrates in Kiel Bay. Merentutkimuslait. Julk. (HavsforskInst. Skr., Helsingf.) 239, 173–178 (1975)
South African Bureau of Standards: Bacteriological quality of water by the membrane filter method. Standard methods. SABS Method 221, 1–6 (1971) (Government Printer, Pretoria, Republic of S. Africa)
Thiel, H.: Quantitative Untersuchungen über die Meiofauna des Tiefseebodens. Veroff. Inst. Meeresforsch. Bremerh. (Sonderband) 2, 131–148 (1966)
Tietjen, J.H.: Ecology and distribution of deepsea meiobenthos off North Carolina. Deep-Sea Res. 18, 941–957 (1971)
Ward, A.R.: Studies on the sublittoral freeliving nematodes of Liverpool Bay. I. The structure and distribution of the nematode populations. Mar. Biol. 22, 53–66 (1973)
—: Studies on the sublittoral free-living nematodes of Liverpool Bay. II. Influence of sediment composition on the distribution of marine nematodes. Mar. Biol. 30, 217–225 (1975)
Wieser, W.: The effect of grain size on the distribution of small invertebrates inhabiting the beaches of Puget Sound. Limnol. Oceanogr. 4, 181–194 (1959)
—: Benthic studies in Buzzards Bay. II. The meiofauna. Limnol. Oceanogr. 5, 121–137 (1960)
Wigley, R.L. and A.D. McIntyre: Some quantitative comparisons of offshore meiobenthos and macrobenthos south of Martha's Vineyard. Limnol. Oceanogr. 9, 485–493 (1964)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by T.M. Fenchel, Aarhus
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McLachlan, A., Winter, P.E.D. & Botha, L. Vertical and horizontal distribution of sub-littoral meiofauna in Algoa Bay, South Africa. Mar. Biol. 40, 355–364 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00395728
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00395728