A survey of the meiofauna of an Eastern Tropical Pacific intertidal mud flat

Abstract

Meiofauna of the intertidal mud flat is studied during 13 months in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. 39 cores analyzed for meiofauna yielded a total of 50,086 individuals and a monthly mean ( plus or minus ISD) of 1.285 plus or minus 526 organisms. This value represents a mean density of 2.4 plus or minus 1.0 x 10 super(6) ind/m super(2). A peak of abundance is observed during June. Nematodes represent 82% of the total, Foraminifera and Copepoda constituted 6.1 and 4.2% of the total respectively, and Ostracoda contributed 3.7%. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated significant differences between dates for total meiofauna, Nematoda, Foraminifera, Copepoda and Ostracoda