Benthic macroinfauna of six beaches near to Guaratuba Bay, Paraná, Brazil were studied in summer and winter of 1994. Sampling stations were distributed along a transect, from upper of the drift line to depths of nearly 3 m behind the first break of the surf zone. Biological and sedimentological samples, slope, wave height and period were recorded. Subtidal samples were collected by scuba diving. The beaches varied from extremely inclined, composed of coarse sediments, to low inclined, composed of fine and very fine sands. The polychaete Scolelepis squamata, was the numerically dominant species in those beaches composed by fine to very fine sand in the subaereal profile. The echinoderm Mellita quinquiesperforata occurred in the last stations of the surf zone and presented the biggest values of biomass. Crustaceans were the most diverse group across all beach type. Results of classification and ordination analyses showed that zonation pattern fitted better to Salvat’s scheme, with minor differences between summer and winter data. CCA’s analysis indicated the importance of sampling level and granulometric composition in the distribution of organism.
Macroinfauna; sandy beaches; zonation; morphodynamics; Paraná; Brazil
