Characteristics of meiobenthic community inhabiting sandy sediment in the Yellow Sea, Korea

Abstract

The community structure of meiobenthos was studied at 16 stations within sandy tidal and subtidal zones in Jangbongdo in the Yellow Sea, Korea from Aug. 2006 to Jan. 2007. Meiobenthic organisms were collected by three core samples, with a 3.6 cm diameter, from each sediment sample taken with a Smith-McIntyre Grab. Mean grain size of study stations ranged from 1.49Φ to 3.55Φ. Composition of sand ranged from 80.38% to 99.89%. There was reduction in total abundance and biomass of meiobenthos from summer to winter. Total densities of meiofauna ranged between 17 inds./10 cm 2 and 853 inds./10 cm 2. Nematodes, gastrotricha, nauplius and harpacticoids appeared as major taxa in decreasing order. This study shows that major taxa comprised 90 percent of total abundance. Most meiofaunal organisms are concentrated in the upper sediment layers and the total abundance and biomass of organisms in the tidal zone is higher than the subtidal zone.