Molluscs associated with a subtidal Zostera marina L. bed in southern Spain: Linking seasonal changes of fauna and environmental variables

The temporal variation of the molluscan fauna associated with a deep Zostera marina bed (12–14 m depth) in Cañuelo Bay (southern Spain) has been studied in relation to water, sediment and eelgrass variables. Samples of molluscs from the sediment and the eelgrass (5 replicates per season) were seasonally collected using a quadrat of 25 × 25 cm. The water column was characterized by the temperature and chlorophyll a concentration. The grain size distribution of the sediment and percentage of organic matter (%OM) were also studied. Estimations of the shoot density, leaf/rhizome biomass and Leaf Area Index (LAI) have been obtained for each sample. Statistical analyses have been performed with SYSTAT and PRIMER software. A total of 2396 individuals and 85 species of molluscs were collected. The most dominant species were infaunal bivalves such as Tellina distorta (28.1%), Dosinia lupinus, Tellina fabula and Chamelea gallina. The gastropods Jujubinus striatus (4.6%), Nassarius pygmaeus and Bittium reticulatum were the dominant epifaunal species. The most frequent species was T. distorta (100%), followed by other infaunal bivalves such as T. fabula, Solemya togata or Lucinella divaricata. The most frequent gastropods were J. striatus (95%), followed by B. reticulatum, N. pygmaeus, Nassarius reticulatus, Mitrella minor and Smaragdia viridis. The abundance of molluscs displayed significant maximum values in summer and autumn (above 2500 indiv. m−2) and minimum values in spring (below 1500 indiv. m−2). The abundance of the epifauna was related with leaf biomass, whereas that of the infauna was positively related with %OM. The species richness also followed a significant seasonal variation with maximum values in summer (64 species in all summer samples) and minimum values in autumn (44 in all autumn samples), and was positively related with LAI. In both qualitative and quantitative cluster/MDS, samples (replicates) mainly grouped according to the season, with significantly different groupings according to ANOSIM analyses. The studied eelgrass bed is less dense, with a lower leaf biomass, than other European eelgrass beds occurring at shallower depths; however the species richness values are the highest along Europe. The latter could be due to its geographical location in the Alboran Sea, where a confluence of Atlantic, Mediterranean and African fauna occurs.