Initial data on settlement and recruitment of macrobenthic organisms on artificial substrates located over Posidonia oceanica meadows

Abstract

The present paper presents initial data about settlement and recruitment of macrobenthic organisms through the use of artificial substrates placed over Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile meadows in the Western Mediterranean. Three settlement frames were submerged in the Marine Protected Area (MPA) of Palma Bay (Balearic Islands, Western Mediterranean). A total of seven macrobenthic species from five phyla were recorded. Assemblages were dominated by the bivalve Anomia ephippium with the largest percentage of surface covered being 43.5% (±4.96). This study provides information on massive primary settlement of A. ephippium. Moreover, this species generated an optimal recruitment substrate for the settlement of two species of polychaete (Serpula vermicularis and Hydroides elegans) and the barnacle Balanus amphitrite. An interspecific relation was observed between B. amphitrite and A. ephippium, since 99.9% of this cirriped recruited directly over A. ephippium. Additionally, this study demonstrated that there is a substantial larval pool available ready to colonize suitable substrates for benthic organisms such as the bryozoan Calpensia nobilis and the ascidian Botryllus schlosseri associated with Posidonia oceanica. Our study is the first approach to gain knowledge of the complex process regarding settlement and recruitment, as well as the application of artificial structures in order to investigate the larval pool over P. oceanica meadows.

Keywords:

• Anomia ephippium
• artificial substrates
• macrobenthos
• Posidonia oceanica
• recruitment
• Settlement

Published in collaboration with the University of Bergen and the Institute of Marine Research, Norway, and the Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Published in collaboration with the University of Bergen and the Institute of Marine Research, Norway, and the Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Notes

Published in collaboration with the University of Bergen and the Institute of Marine Research, Norway, and the Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Denmark