Intertidal meiofauna at Anjos Beach, Arraial do Cabo, RJ

Abstract

The aim of this work was to study the meiofauna on intertidal zone at Praia dos Anjos, Arraial do Cabo, RJ, which is an important sightseeing and fishery region in Rio de Janeiro State. The beach was divided in three areas (P, A and B) and the samples were carried out between January and June of 1995. Sediment samples and sea water were collected to meiofaunal and granulometric analysis and to determine dissolved oxygen, ammonia, salinity and temperature, respectively. These variables showed a similar tendency between the areas, except for the ammonia data. The meiofauna was composed by: Nematoda (dominante group in the three areas), Oligochaeta, Polychaeta, Copepoda and Turbellaria with relative abundance of these groups changing in each area. The area B showed the highest mean density (À 171 ind/10 cm²) while in areas A and P, the mean density was lower (À 20 ind/10 cm²). The cluster analysis evidenced a spatial variation in the meiofauna composition and distribution. The results showed a difference between the areas and allow us to make hypothesis that will be answered in future works at this beach.