| The species composition and spatial distribution of macrofaunal assemblages in intertidal sands of Arcachon Bay, on the southwestern Atlantic coast of France, were investigated through a quantitative sampling of twenty stations representative of the various sandy habitats found in the bay, excluding the exposed beaches. Sampling was done on a single occasion, during the winter of 1988. A total of 150 macrobenthic species (> 1 mm) were collected. The abundance of macrofauna ranged from 89 to 52000 ind.m-2 (with a high dominance of the gastropod Hydrobia ulvae in some sites) and the biomass ranged from 1.3 to 42.5 g.m-2 dry weight. Thirteen additional species (belonging to temporary meiofauna and small macrofauna) were also sampled in the sieving fraction... |
