Abstract
The effects of the presence of the brown shrimp Crangon crangon L. on the abundances and vertical distribution of three meiofaunal taxa, Harpacticoida, Ostracoda and Nematoda, were studied in soft-sediment microcosms on the west coast of Sweden. All groups were most abundant in the top 2 mm sediment layer. In the presence of C. crangon, the total abundances of harpacticoids and os-tracods decreased significantly, whereas nematodes did not. Except for Ostracoda, within the top 10 mm, there was no significant interaction between the presence of C. crangon and the vertical distribution of meiofauna.