Seasonal variation of the crustacean fauna in the belowground and aboveground strata in a Halodule wrightii meadow of northeastern Brazil

Abstract

ABSTRACT The different microhabitats provided by seagrasses and the habit of the species determinate the vertical distribution of crustaceans. This study verified the influence of the seasonality on the spatial distribution of the crustacean community associated with a Halodule wrightii meadow. From April 2006 to July 2007, we performed fifteen samplings in Goiabeiras Beach, Ceará State, each with five sectioned replicates in belowground and aboveground. Cumaceans and the amphipod Hyale media (Dana, 1853) had a higher frequency, density, and dominance than the other taxa, in both strata. The community exhibited gradual changes along the study, in both the belowground and aboveground strata, but the seagrass structure was not sufficient to explain the vertical distribution of the crustacean fauna along the time.