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Distribution patterns of molluscan fauna in seagrass beds in the Ensenada de O Grove (Galicia, north-western Spain)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2012

P. Quintas ,
J. Moreira  and
J.S. Troncoso
P. Quintas*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ecoloxía e Bioloxía Animal, Facultade de Ciencias, Campus Lagoas Marcosende s/n, Universidad de Vigo, E-36200 Vigo, Galicia, Spain
J. Moreira
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biología (Zoología), Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
J.S. Troncoso
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ecoloxía e Bioloxía Animal, Facultade de Ciencias, Campus Lagoas Marcosende s/n, Universidad de Vigo, E-36200 Vigo, Galicia, Spain
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: P. Quintas, Departamento de Ecoloxía e Bioloxía Animal, Facultade de Ciencias, Campus Lagoas Marcosende s/n, Universidad de Vigo, E-36200 Vigo, Galicia, Spain email: patriquipe@gmail.com
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Abstract

The distribution and composition of molluscan assemblages of seagrass beds in the Ensenada de O Grove (north-western Spain), are described in this paper. The studied bottoms were mostly muddy and colonized predominantly by Zostera marina L., Z. noltei Hornemann, or by both species. Molluscan fauna was dominated by gastropods and bivalves, in terms of both species richness and abundance. A total of 7641 individuals belonging to 68 taxa was identified. The most abundant species were the gastropods Peringia ulvae, Retusa truncatula and Calyptraea chinensis and the bivalves Abra alba, Loripes lucinalis and Kurtiella bidentata. Cluster and multidimensional scaling analyses based on Bray–Curtis similarity coefficient showed two distinct faunal assemblages. Group A comprised intertidal sites colonized either by Z. noltei or by Z. marina and Z. noltei on muddy sand and sandy mud bottoms and subtidal sites exclusively colonized by Z. marina in the outer part of the inlet on muddy sand with the highest values of species richness and diversity. Group B consisted of sites characterized by low values of species diversity and a species composition typical of a ‘reduced Macoma community’. The sorting coefficient and the combination of gravel, sorting coefficient and carbonates content (BIOENV analyses) and the salinity of bottom water and depth (canonical correspondence analyses) were the most important abiotic variables in explaining the structure of the molluscan assemblage.

Keywords

molluscsseagrassZosteramultivariate analysisAtlantic OceanSpain
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 93 , Issue 3 , May 2013 , pp. 619 - 630
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2012

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