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Advances in the aquatic sciences
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Spatio-temporal variability of amphipod assemblages associated with rhodolith seabeds

Sandra Navarro-Mayoral https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1529-9629 A , Victoria Fernandez-Gonzalez B , Francisco Otero-Ferrer A and Fernando Tuya A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Grupo en Biodiversidad y Conservación, IU-ECOAQUA, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Marine Scientific and Technological Park, Courta. Taliarte s/n, E-35214 Telde, Spain.

B Department of Marine Sciences and Applied Biology, University of Alicante, PO Box 99, E-03080 Alicante, Spain.

C Corresponding author. Email: sandra.navarro102@alu.ulpgc.es

Marine and Freshwater Research 72(1) 76-83 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF19360
Submitted: 14 November 2019  Accepted: 6 April 2020   Published: 26 May 2020

Abstract

Rhodolith seabeds are habitats underpinned by free-living calcareous macroalgae. We partitioned the relevance of the scale of temporal (four seasons throughout two successive years) and spatial (three depth strata: 18, 25 and 40 m) variation on the diversity, structure and abundance of amphipod assemblages living in rhodolith seabeds from Gran Canaria Island. In total, 3996 individuals, belonging to 32 taxa, were identified. Multivariate analyses showed consistent differences in assemblage structure among seasons and depths; more diverse and abundant amphipod assemblages were often observed during spring at 18- and 25-m than at 40-m depth. Ovigerous females of Gammaropsis ostroumowi and Ampithoe ramondi were observed mainly at 18 and 25 m. Juveniles of both species were exclusively recorded at 18 and 25 m, so denoting a clear segregation in their population structure with depth. In summary, this study has demonstrated that the ecological pattern of amphipods associated with rhodolith seabeds can vary greatly across both time (seasons) and space (depth).

Additional keywords: algal biomass, Atlantic Ocean, Canary Islands, crustaceans, maerl, population structure.


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