The conventional elutriation method used for separating meiofauna and sediment yields insufficiently correct quantitative results. A critical evaluation of the physical background of this method leads to the construction of a differently shaped separation funnel and to improvements allowing better controlled, gradual variations in waterflow velocity and sieve mesh sizes. Comparative tests of th...

The abundance and higher taxonomic composition of epizooic metazoan meiobenthic communities associated with mussel and tubeworm aggregations of hydrocarbon seeps at Green Canyon, Atwater Valley, and Alaminos Canyon in depths between 1400 and 2800 m were studied and compared to the infaunal community of non-seep sediments nearby. Epizooic meiofaunal abundances of associated meiobenthos living in...

Epistominella exigua is one of the most common deep-sea foraminiferal morphospecies and has a world-wide distribution. A recent molecular study revealed high genetic similarity between Arctic, Atlantic and Antarctic populations of this species. Here, we show that the small-subunit (SSU) and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA sequences of an E. exigua population from Pacific are almost ident...

Patterns in community structure of meiofauna and macrofauna in relation to Portuguese clam dredging were compared during a 2-y-period o¡ Lagos and Vilamoura, south Portugal. SCUBA divers randomly sampled corer and quadrat samples before and immediately after simulating commercial dredge ¢shery. Univariate measures (abundance, number of taxa, evenness, diversity and biomass) and multivariate ana...

Nearly ubiquitous and usually speciose in most aquatic habitats, the meiofaunal-sized gastrotrichs are recognized as an important component of marine freshwater ecosystems. The common observations that feed on bacteria, microalgae biodetritus strongly imply they play a relevant role linking microbial loop to higher trophic levels. Which organisms turn prey is, however, substantially unexplored ...