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Marine Biology

Georgia Journal of Science

Journal

Sapelo Island

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Meiofauna Distribution Patterns On A Sandy Beach Of Sapelo Island, Georgia, Nancy Dalman, Dianna Spence, Richard Settele, David Turner, Andrew Shirley, Jill Schulze May 2023

Meiofauna Distribution Patterns On A Sandy Beach Of Sapelo Island, Georgia, Nancy Dalman, Dianna Spence, Richard Settele, David Turner, Andrew Shirley, Jill Schulze

Georgia Journal of Science

Substantial abundance and diversity of intertidal invertebrates known as meiofauna are evident on a sandy beach of Sapelo Island, Georgia. Meiofauna are small, benthic, nearly ubiquitous animals. They consume microbes and detritus and are a food source for juvenile fish and ghost shrimp. Meiofauna were manually separated from sand samples collected from three intertidal zones and two depths during low tide in January, March, June, and October, 2017. Fifteen major meiofaunal clades were identified in June, while only eight were observed in January; in all, there were sixteen clades observed. Highest meiofauna densities were found in the middle intertidal zone …