Small scale change in mollusk diversity along a depth gradient in a seagrass bed off Cabo Frio, (Southeast Brazil)

Creed, Joel Christopher; Kinupp, Monique

Abstracts

We know little about animal communities in seagrass beds in the southeast Atlantic. The aim of the current study was to characterize and quantify the mollusk assemblages within these unique tropical seagrass habitats at a spatial scale fine enough to relate change in assemblage structure to gradients in exposure to air/depth. The study was carried out off Cabo Frio, Southeast Brazil. A 1250 m² area vegetated by the seagrass Halodule wrightii was defined (50 m parallel to the shoreline × 25 m distance from the shore margin). Twenty-six transects were established and the sampling carried out in order to characterize and to quantify the associated mollusk fauna. The mollusk assemblage presented overall density, density of key species and mean richness which increased systematically along the onshore-to-offshore gradient. Furthermore over the short spatial distance of the study the mollusk assemblage changed sufficiently for ordination to detect different assemblages.

Assemblage; Brazil; Diversity; Halodule wrightii; Mollusks

Há pouco conhecimento sobre a comunidade animal em bancos de fanerógamas marinhas no Atlântico sudeste. O presente estudo teve como objetivo caracterizar e quantificar assembléias de Mollusca nesses habitats únicos, utilizando uma escala espacial sensível suficiente para relacionar mudança na estrutura da assembléia aos gradientes em exposição ao ar/profundidade. O estudo foi realizado em Cabo Frio, no sudeste do Brasil. Delimitou-se uma área de vegetação de Halodule wrightii de 1250 m² (50 m paralelo ao costão × 25 m distância da orla). Foram estabelecidos 26 transectos e realizada a amostragem, de modo a caracterizar e quantificar a malacofauna. A assembléia apresentou uma densidade, densidade de espécies chaves e riqueza média que aumentou sistematicamente ao longo do gradiente orla-mar. Além disso, em escala espacial curta, a assembléia de Mollusca mudou suficientemente que, através de uma ordenação, se detectou diferenças entre assembléias.

Assembléia; Brasil; Diversidade; Halodule wrightii; Mollusca

ANSELL A.; FRENKIEL, L.; MOUËZA, M. Seasonal changes in tissue weight and biochemical composition for the bivalve Donax trunculus L. on the Algerian coast. J. expl mar. Biol. Ecol, v. 45, p. 105-116, 1980.
BARNES, P. The role of nutrition in the distribution of chemoautotrophic bacteria-Lucinid bivalve symbiosis in Bermuda. Amer. Zool, v. 36, p. 403, 1996.
BARNES, P.; HICKMAN, C. S. Lucinid bivalves and marine angiosperms: a search for causal relationships. In: WALKER, D.I.; WELLS, F.E.(Ed.). The seagrass Flora and Fauna of Rottnest Island, Western Australia Perth: Western Australian Museum, 1999. p. 215-238.
BELL, J. D.; POLLARD, D. A. Ecology of fish assemblages and fisheries associated with seagrass. In: LARKUM, A. W. D.; MCCOMB A. J.; SHEPHERD, S.A. (Ed.). Biology of seagrasses: a treatise on the Biology of seagrasses with special reference to the Australian Region 1989, p. 565-609.
CARVALHO, A. L. P. S.; VENTURA, C. R. R. The reproductive cycle of Asterina stellifera (Möbius) (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) in the Cabo Frio region, southeastern Brazil. Mar. Biol, v. 141, p. 947-954, 2002.
CASARES, F. A.; CREED, J. C. Do small seagrasses enhance density, richness, and diversity of macrofauna? J. coast. Res., v. 24, p. 790-797, 2008.
CLARKE, K. R.; WARWICK, R. M. Similarity-based testing for community pattern: the 2-way layout with no replication. Mar. Biol, v.118, p.167-176, 1994.
CONNOLY, R. M. Differences in composition of small, motile invertebrate assemblages from seagrass and unvegetated habitats in a southern Australian estuary. Hydrobiologia, v. 346, p.137-148, 1997.
CORBISIER, T. N. Macrozoobenthos da Praia do Codó (Ubatuba, SP) e a presença de Halodule wrightii Ascherson. Bolm Inst. Oceanogr, v. 42, p.99-111, 1994.
CREED, J. C. Distribution, seasonal abundance and shoot size of the seagrass Halodule wrightii near its southern limit at Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Aquatic Bot, v. 65, p. 47-58, 1999.
CREED, J.C. Epibiosis on cerith shells in a seagrass bed: correlation of shell occupant with epizoite distribution and abundance. Mar. Biol, v. 137, p. 775-782, 2000.
CREED, J. C. The seagrasses of South America: Brazil, Argentina and Chile. In: GREEN, E. P.; SHORT, F. T. (Ed). World Atlas of seagrasses. Berckeley, CA: University of California Press, 2003. p 243-250.
EDGAR, G.J.; WATSON, G.; HAMMOND, L.S.; SHAW, C. Comparisons of species richness, size-structure and production of benthos in vegetated and unvegetated habitats in Western Port, Victoria. J. expl mar. Biol. Ecol, v.176, p. 201-226, 1994.
FONSECA, M. S.; FISHER, J. S.; ZIEMAN, J. C.; THAYER, G.W. Influence of the seagrass Zostera marina L., on current flow. Estuar. coast. Shelf Sci, v. 15, p.351-364, 1982.
FONSECA, M. S.; FISHER, J. S. A comparison of canopy friction and sediment movement between four species of seagrass with reference to their ecology and restoration. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser, v. 29, p.15-22, 1986.
GONÇALVES, E. M.; LANA, P. C. Padrões de distribuição de Bivalvia e Gastropoda na plataforma continental da costa sudeste do Brasil (24ºS - 27ºN); Nerítica, v. 6, p. 73-92, 1991.
HOUBRICK, J. R. Growth studies on the genus Cerithium (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia) with notes on ecology and microhabitats. Nautilus, v. 88, p. 14-27, 1974.
HOUBRICK, J. R. Monograph of the genus Cerithium Bruguiere in the Indo-Pacific (Cerithiidae: Prosobranchia). Smithson. Contrib. Zool, v. 510, p. 1211, 1992.
JACKSON, J. B. C. The ecology of the mollusks of Thalassia communities, Jamaica, West Indies. II. Molluscan population variability along an environmental stress gradient. Mar. Biol, v. 14, p. 304-372, 1972.
JUNQUEIRA, A. D. R.; VENTURA, C. R. R.; DE CARVALHO, A. L. P. S.; SCHMIDT, A. J. Population recovery of the sea urchin Lytechinus variegates in a seagrass flat (Araruama Lagoon, Brazil): The role of recruitment in a disturbed environment. Invert. Reprod. Dev., v. 31, p.143-150, 1997.
KJERFVE, B.; SCHETTINI, C. A. KNOPPERS, B.; LESSA, G.; FERREIRA, H.O. Hydrology and salt balance in a large, hypersaline coastal lagoon: Lagoa de Araruama, Brazil. Estuar. coast. Shelf Sci, v.42, p. 701-725, 1996.
KLUMPP, D. W.; SALITA ESPINOSA, J. S.; FORTES, M. D. The role of epiphytic periphyton and macroinvertebrate grazers in the trophic flux of a tropical seagrass community. Aquatic Bot, v. 43, p. 327-349, 1992.
LEVINTON, J. S. Marine Biology. Function, Biodiversity, Ecology New York, Oxford University Press, 1995, 420p.
MARBÀ, N.; HOLMER, M.; GACIA, E.; BARRON, C. Seagrass beds and coastal biogeochemistry. In: LARKUM, A. W. D.; ORTH R. J.; DUARTE C. M. (Ed.). Seagrasses: Biology, Ecology and conservation. Netherlands: Springer, 2006. p. 135-157.
OMENA, E.; CREED, J. C. Polychaete fauna of seagrass beds (Halodule wrightii Ascherson) along the coast of Rio de Janeiro (Southeast Brazil). Mar. Ecol, v. 25, p. 273-288, 2004.
ORTH, R. J.; HECK, K. L.; VAN MONTFRANS, J. Faunal communities in seagrass beds -A review of the influence of plant structure and prey characteristics on predator prey relationships. Estuaries, v. 7, p. 339-350, 1984.
PETERSEN, C. G. The animal communities of the sea bottom and their importance for marine zoogeography. Rept Danish Biol. Stat, v. 21, p.44, 1913.
PETERSON, C.H. Intertidal zonation of marine invertebrates in sand and mud. Am. Scient, v. 79, p. 236-248, 1991.
REISE, K. Tidal flat ecology - an experimental approach to species interactions Berlin: Springer Verlag, 1985. 191 p.
REYES-BARRAGÁN, M. P.; SALAZAR-VALLEJO, S. I. Benthos asociado al pastizal de Halodule (Potamogetonaceae) en Laguna de La Mancha, Veracruz, México. Revta Biol. trop, v. 38, p. 167-173, 1989.
RIOS, E. C. Seashells of Brazil Rio Grande: Fundação Universidade do Rio Grande, RS, 1994. 368 p.
SHORT, F.T.; MCKENZIE L.J.; COLES R.G.; GAECKLE J.L. SeagrassNet Manual for scientific monitoring of Seagrass habitat - Western Pacific. Cairns, Australia: Queensland Department of Primary Industries, 2004. 71 p.
SHORT, F. T.; MCKENZIE L. J.; COLES, R .G.; GAECKLE, J. L. SeagrassNet Manual for scientific monitoring of seagrass habitat - Caribbean Edition. Durham, NH: University of New Hampshire, 2005. 74 p.
SHORT, F. T.; KOCH, E. W.; CREED, J. C.; MAGALHÃES, K. M.; FERNANDEZ, E.; GAECKLE, J. L. SeagrassNet monitoring across the Americas: case studies of seagrass decline. Mar. Ecol, v.27, p. 277-289, 2006.
STONER, A. W. Abundance, reproductive seasonality and habitat preferences of amphipod crustaceans in seagrass meadows of Apalachee Bay, Florida. Contr. Mar. Sci, v. 23, p. 63-77, 1980.
THORSON, G. B. Communities (sublittoral or shallow shelf). Ecology. Gel. Soc. Amer. Mem, v. 67, p. 461534, 1957.
WEBSTER, P. J.; ROWDEN, A. A.; ATTRILL, M. J. Effect of shoot density on the infaunal macro-invertebrate community within a Zostera marina seagrass bed. Estuar. coast. Shelf Sci, v. 47, p. 351-357, 1998.
WILSON JR., W. H. Competition and predation in marine soft-sediment communities. A. Rev. Ecol. Syst, v.21, p. 221-241, 1991.

Publication Dates

Publication in this collection
17 Oct 2011
Date of issue
Sept 2011

History

Reviewed
05 May 2009
Received
20 Mar 2009
Accepted
13 July 2009

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

[1] ANSELL A.; FRENKIEL, L.; MOUËZA, M. Seasonal changes in tissue weight and biochemical composition for the bivalve Donax trunculus L. on the Algerian coast. J. expl mar. Biol. Ecol, v. 45, p. 105-116, 1980.

[2] BARNES, P. The role of nutrition in the distribution of chemoautotrophic bacteria-Lucinid bivalve symbiosis in Bermuda. Amer. Zool, v. 36, p. 403, 1996.

[3] BARNES, P.; HICKMAN, C. S. Lucinid bivalves and marine angiosperms: a search for causal relationships. In: WALKER, D.I.; WELLS, F.E.(Ed.). The seagrass Flora and Fauna of Rottnest Island, Western Australia Perth: Western Australian Museum, 1999. p. 215-238.

[4] BELL, J. D.; POLLARD, D. A. Ecology of fish assemblages and fisheries associated with seagrass. In: LARKUM, A. W. D.; MCCOMB A. J.; SHEPHERD, S.A. (Ed.). Biology of seagrasses: a treatise on the Biology of seagrasses with special reference to the Australian Region 1989, p. 565-609.

[5] CARVALHO, A. L. P. S.; VENTURA, C. R. R. The reproductive cycle of Asterina stellifera (Möbius) (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) in the Cabo Frio region, southeastern Brazil. Mar. Biol, v. 141, p. 947-954, 2002.

[6] CASARES, F. A.; CREED, J. C. Do small seagrasses enhance density, richness, and diversity of macrofauna? J. coast. Res., v. 24, p. 790-797, 2008.

[7] CLARKE, K. R.; WARWICK, R. M. Similarity-based testing for community pattern: the 2-way layout with no replication. Mar. Biol, v.118, p.167-176, 1994.

[8] CONNOLY, R. M. Differences in composition of small, motile invertebrate assemblages from seagrass and unvegetated habitats in a southern Australian estuary. Hydrobiologia, v. 346, p.137-148, 1997.

[9] CORBISIER, T. N. Macrozoobenthos da Praia do Codó (Ubatuba, SP) e a presença de Halodule wrightii Ascherson. Bolm Inst. Oceanogr, v. 42, p.99-111, 1994.

[10] CREED, J. C. Distribution, seasonal abundance and shoot size of the seagrass Halodule wrightii near its southern limit at Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Aquatic Bot, v. 65, p. 47-58, 1999.

[11] CREED, J.C. Epibiosis on cerith shells in a seagrass bed: correlation of shell occupant with epizoite distribution and abundance. Mar. Biol, v. 137, p. 775-782, 2000.

[12] CREED, J. C. The seagrasses of South America: Brazil, Argentina and Chile. In: GREEN, E. P.; SHORT, F. T. (Ed). World Atlas of seagrasses. Berckeley, CA: University of California Press, 2003. p 243-250.

[13] EDGAR, G.J.; WATSON, G.; HAMMOND, L.S.; SHAW, C. Comparisons of species richness, size-structure and production of benthos in vegetated and unvegetated habitats in Western Port, Victoria. J. expl mar. Biol. Ecol, v.176, p. 201-226, 1994.

[14] FONSECA, M. S.; FISHER, J. S.; ZIEMAN, J. C.; THAYER, G.W. Influence of the seagrass Zostera marina L., on current flow. Estuar. coast. Shelf Sci, v. 15, p.351-364, 1982.

[15] FONSECA, M. S.; FISHER, J. S. A comparison of canopy friction and sediment movement between four species of seagrass with reference to their ecology and restoration. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser, v. 29, p.15-22, 1986.

[16] GONÇALVES, E. M.; LANA, P. C. Padrões de distribuição de Bivalvia e Gastropoda na plataforma continental da costa sudeste do Brasil (24ºS - 27ºN); Nerítica, v. 6, p. 73-92, 1991.

[17] HOUBRICK, J. R. Growth studies on the genus Cerithium (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia) with notes on ecology and microhabitats. Nautilus, v. 88, p. 14-27, 1974.

[18] HOUBRICK, J. R. Monograph of the genus Cerithium Bruguiere in the Indo-Pacific (Cerithiidae: Prosobranchia). Smithson. Contrib. Zool, v. 510, p. 1211, 1992.

[19] JACKSON, J. B. C. The ecology of the mollusks of Thalassia communities, Jamaica, West Indies. II. Molluscan population variability along an environmental stress gradient. Mar. Biol, v. 14, p. 304-372, 1972.

[20] JUNQUEIRA, A. D. R.; VENTURA, C. R. R.; DE CARVALHO, A. L. P. S.; SCHMIDT, A. J. Population recovery of the sea urchin Lytechinus variegates in a seagrass flat (Araruama Lagoon, Brazil): The role of recruitment in a disturbed environment. Invert. Reprod. Dev., v. 31, p.143-150, 1997.

[21] KJERFVE, B.; SCHETTINI, C. A. KNOPPERS, B.; LESSA, G.; FERREIRA, H.O. Hydrology and salt balance in a large, hypersaline coastal lagoon: Lagoa de Araruama, Brazil. Estuar. coast. Shelf Sci, v.42, p. 701-725, 1996.

[22] KLUMPP, D. W.; SALITA ESPINOSA, J. S.; FORTES, M. D. The role of epiphytic periphyton and macroinvertebrate grazers in the trophic flux of a tropical seagrass community. Aquatic Bot, v. 43, p. 327-349, 1992.

[23] LEVINTON, J. S. Marine Biology. Function, Biodiversity, Ecology New York, Oxford University Press, 1995, 420p.

[24] MARBÀ, N.; HOLMER, M.; GACIA, E.; BARRON, C. Seagrass beds and coastal biogeochemistry. In: LARKUM, A. W. D.; ORTH R. J.; DUARTE C. M. (Ed.). Seagrasses: Biology, Ecology and conservation. Netherlands: Springer, 2006. p. 135-157.

[25] OMENA, E.; CREED, J. C. Polychaete fauna of seagrass beds (Halodule wrightii Ascherson) along the coast of Rio de Janeiro (Southeast Brazil). Mar. Ecol, v. 25, p. 273-288, 2004.

[26] ORTH, R. J.; HECK, K. L.; VAN MONTFRANS, J. Faunal communities in seagrass beds -A review of the influence of plant structure and prey characteristics on predator prey relationships. Estuaries, v. 7, p. 339-350, 1984.

[27] PETERSEN, C. G. The animal communities of the sea bottom and their importance for marine zoogeography. Rept Danish Biol. Stat, v. 21, p.44, 1913.

[28] PETERSON, C.H. Intertidal zonation of marine invertebrates in sand and mud. Am. Scient, v. 79, p. 236-248, 1991.

[29] REISE, K. Tidal flat ecology - an experimental approach to species interactions Berlin: Springer Verlag, 1985. 191 p.

[30] REYES-BARRAGÁN, M. P.; SALAZAR-VALLEJO, S. I. Benthos asociado al pastizal de Halodule (Potamogetonaceae) en Laguna de La Mancha, Veracruz, México. Revta Biol. trop, v. 38, p. 167-173, 1989.

[31] RIOS, E. C. Seashells of Brazil Rio Grande: Fundação Universidade do Rio Grande, RS, 1994. 368 p.

[32] SHORT, F.T.; MCKENZIE L.J.; COLES R.G.; GAECKLE J.L. SeagrassNet Manual for scientific monitoring of Seagrass habitat - Western Pacific. Cairns, Australia: Queensland Department of Primary Industries, 2004. 71 p.

[33] SHORT, F. T.; MCKENZIE L. J.; COLES, R .G.; GAECKLE, J. L. SeagrassNet Manual for scientific monitoring of seagrass habitat - Caribbean Edition. Durham, NH: University of New Hampshire, 2005. 74 p.

[34] SHORT, F. T.; KOCH, E. W.; CREED, J. C.; MAGALHÃES, K. M.; FERNANDEZ, E.; GAECKLE, J. L. SeagrassNet monitoring across the Americas: case studies of seagrass decline. Mar. Ecol, v.27, p. 277-289, 2006.

[35] STONER, A. W. Abundance, reproductive seasonality and habitat preferences of amphipod crustaceans in seagrass meadows of Apalachee Bay, Florida. Contr. Mar. Sci, v. 23, p. 63-77, 1980.

[36] THORSON, G. B. Communities (sublittoral or shallow shelf). Ecology. Gel. Soc. Amer. Mem, v. 67, p. 461534, 1957.

[37] WEBSTER, P. J.; ROWDEN, A. A.; ATTRILL, M. J. Effect of shoot density on the infaunal macro-invertebrate community within a Zostera marina seagrass bed. Estuar. coast. Shelf Sci, v. 47, p. 351-357, 1998.

[38] WILSON JR., W. H. Competition and predation in marine soft-sediment communities. A. Rev. Ecol. Syst, v.21, p. 221-241, 1991.