Life Sciences Commons^™

Callianassa Trilobata (Crustacea: Thalassinidea) Influences Abundance Of Meiofauna And Biomass, Composition, And Physiologic State Of Microbial Communities Within Its Burrow, Fred C. Dobbs, James B. Guckert

OES Faculty Publications

Biochemical and traditional methods were used to determine the influence of Callianassa trilobata on microbiological and meiofaunal communities within its large, highly consolidated burrow. Sediment was collected from the lining of the shrimp's burrow, the burrow matrix, and ambient, subsurface sediment. The lining and matrix were composed of poorly sorted, fine-grained material compared to sandy ambient sediment. Meiofauna, predominantly nematodes, were most abundant in ambient sediment, not in the burrow as has been found for other species of macrofauna. Concentrations of chlorophyll a were very high in the lining, consistent with the suggestion that C. trilobata lines its burrow walls …