Sublittoral meiobenthic assemblages from disturbed and non-disturbed sediments in the Balearics

Qualitative and quantitative differences in species composition of meiobenthic communities illustrate the differences among various taxonomic assemblages in the Balearic Islands (Western Mediterranean) analysed by means of multivariate analysis. Average densities ranged between 1000 and 4000 ind.10cm-2, and are in the same range as previously reported from other shallow Mediterranean areas. The dominant meiofaunal taxa were Nematoda (range 40 to 75%), Turbellaria (5-47%) and Copepoda (2-14%), while other meiofaunal groups (Tardigrada and Rotifera) were only represented by approximately 5% of the total abundance. The dominant nematode families were Desmodoridae, Chromadoridae and Xyalidae. The meiofaunal communities showed little variation among locations. Moreover, small-scale heterogeneity does not seem to affect nematode distribution as shown by the high similarity between replicates in the multivariate analysis