Habitat structure and biological characteristics of a maerl bed off the northeastern coast of the Maltese Islands (central Mediterranean)

Forty stations within a 20 km 2 Maltese maerl bed were sampled by grab to gather data on sediment granulometry and the percentage mass, sphericity, and morphotype of rhodoliths. Two stations were monitored between July 1996 and April 1998 to study temporal variation in species diversity and abundanc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine biodiversity 2009-12, Vol.39 (4), p.251-264
Main Authors: Sciberras, Marija, Rizzo, Miraine, Mifsud, Jael R., Camilleri, Katielena, Borg, Joseph A., Lanfranco, Edwin, Schembri, Patrick J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algae
Animal Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography
Annelida
Aquatic crustaceans
Benthos
Biodiversity
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Coasts
Community composition
Crustaceans
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Granulometry
Heterogeneity
Life Sciences
Lithothamnion corallioides
Marine
Marl
Mesophyllum lichenoides
Microscopy
Mollusca
Mollusks
Neogoniolithion brassica-florida
Ocean floor
Original Paper
Peyssonnelia
Phynatolithion calcareum
Physical characteristics
Plant Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography
Sediment
Sediments
Species diversity
Taxa
Temporal variations
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Summary:Forty stations within a 20 km 2 Maltese maerl bed were sampled by grab to gather data on sediment granulometry and the percentage mass, sphericity, and morphotype of rhodoliths. Two stations were monitored between July 1996 and April 1998 to study temporal variation in species diversity and abundance of the epi- and endo-benthos. Maerl was commonest at 51–90 m depth with 20–39% live rhodoliths in central parts of the maerl bed, while the peripheral parts had less than 20% live rhodoliths. The most abundant rhodolith morphotypes were branching forms and those with a rugged surface. The maerl bed proved to have high species diversity with 244 animal and 87 algal taxa recorded; molluscs, crustaceans, and annelids were the dominant taxa in the endobenthos, and bryozoans and sponges in the epibenthos. Community composition, rhodolith morphology and sediment characteristics at the two sites were related to differences in the hydrodynamic regime resulting from seabed topographical heterogeneity.
ISSN:1867-1616
1867-1624
DOI:10.1007/s12526-009-0017-4