Collected reprints: Abstract 3222
Collected reprints
Abstract
Martens, P.M.; Schockaert, E.R. (1986). The importance of turbellarians in the marine meiobenthos : a review. Hydrobiologia 132: 295-303
Recent data and opinions on meiofaunal ecology are briefly reviewed; and from scattered data, the place of turbellarians in the meiobenthic community is discussed. Turbellarian diversity is of the same magnitude higher in sandy habitats than in muddy bottoms. In sand, turbellarian diversity is of the same magnitude as that of other important meiofaunal taxa, while densities range between 7-25% of the total meiofauna. Mean individual turbellarian dry weight seems to be four times that of nematodes and in sandy habitats turbellarian biomass may be equal to or exceed that of nematodes. Most turbellarian species may be considered as predators and in this respect may take the place occupied by macrofaunal species in muddy sediments.
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