Meiofaunal diversity from Los Abrigos del Porís and Los Cristianos beaches (Tenerife, Canary Islands)

Abstract

Meiofaunal diversity from Los Abrigos del Porís and Los Cristianos beaches (Tenerife, Canary Islands). Community structure and seasonal variations. Two localities, Los Abrigos del Porís and Los Cristianos, of the south coast of Tenerife were sampled from May
2000 and April 2001 in order to describe seasonal variations of the meiofaunal community. In each locality, two stations were selected, one in the lower intertidal and one in the shallow subtidal (3 m deep). The intertidal of Los Abrigos del Porís was characterized by medium sands that  were  dominated  by  harpacticoid  copepods,  being  the  most  abundant  species  the  copepod  Ectinosomatidae  sp1  and  the  polychaete Microphthalmus  pseudoaberrans.  The  subtidal  of  Los  Abrigos  del  Porís  was  characterized  by  fine  and  medium  sands,  and  nematodes dominated  the  meiofauna  structure,  being Siphonolaimus  sp1  and Siphonolaimus  sp2  the  most  dominant  species.  The  intertidal  of  Los Cristianos was characterized by fine sands, being the nematodes the dominant taxonomic group. In the first fortnight of November a run-off from  an  adjacent  ravine  triggered  an  abrupt  change  in  the  meiofaunal  structure  of  the  sediments.  The  most  abundant  species  were  the nematodes  Odontophora  sp.  3  and Theristus  sp.  The  subtidal  of  Los  Cristianos  was  characterized  by  fine  sands,  being  dominated  by nematodes. The most dominant species were Daptonema hirsutum, Pomponema sedecima and Oncholaimellus calvadosicus. A correlation between abiotic factors (granulometry, organic matter, carbonates and nitrogen) and the most abundant species of the four stations is provided.