Bernardita C. Pilapil
ABSTRACT
The tropical meiofauna communities of a muddy and a sandy portion in Shut Bay, Liloan, Central Philippines were compared. The sandy substrate supports a more varied meiofauna community than the muddy substrate although faunal composition between the two substrate types differs only slightly. Ten meiofauna groups (Copepoda, Bivalvia, Nematoda, Gastrotricha, Ostracoda, Tardigrada, Polychaeta, Amphipoda, kinorhyn-Oa and Turbellaria) were observed in the sandy substrate. However of the 10groups, polychaetes and tardigrades were not found in the muddy station at the time of sampling. The muddy substrate showed an abundance (2024/ 10 cm2) which is about 9 times higher than that in the sandy substrate (216/ 10 cm2). Nematoda and Copepoda were the most dominant taxonomic groups in the muddy and sandy substrates, respectively.
Keywords: Sandy substrate. Muddy substrate. Meiofauna. Composi-tion. Abundance. Dominance. Silut Bay.
Annals of Tropical Research 9(1):(1987)
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