Settlement of Macoma balthica on an intertidal sandflat in the Wadden Sea

Abstract

At Borkum, most settlement occurred at the station with the lowest tidal elevation, characterized by mixed sediments. No limiting effects of adult Macoma balthica or a dense assemblage of the filter-feeding bivalve Mya arenaria on settlement could be observed. From the temporal course of abundance and the length-frequency distribution of M. balthica the higher part of the flat was apparently colonized by post-larvae. -from Author