Macrobenthofauna of Lagoons in Guadeloupean Mangroves (Lesser Antilles): Role and Expressions of the Confinement

Authors

  • Olivier Guelorget
  • Didier Gaujous
  • Max Louis
  • Jean-Pierre Perthuisot

Keywords:

Lagoon, tropical, macrobenthofauna, Pelecypods, confinement, Lesser Antilles

Abstract

The distribution of abiotic parameters is compared to the qualitative and quantitative distribution of the macrobenthofauna in a couple of mangrove lagoons under tropical climate. From several mathematical treatments of collected data it appears that the two lagoons are very different as far as abiotic parameters are concerned. They meanwhile display a similar macrofaunal organization. Furthermore none of the studied abiotic parameters is able to account by itself for this common biological zonation of both lagoons which seems to be better understood in terms of restriction with respect to the open sea, i.e. in terms of confinement. Two kinds of Pelecypods species may be separated. The first one is composed of species that live in the lagoonal areas and in apparently open marine conditions whereas the second one is composed of species that only live in the most restricted parts of both lagoons. Besides, a detailed study of living Lucina pectinata and empty shells displays the recent evolution of both lagoons towards less restricted conditions. It finally appears that the ecological structure and functioning of such tropical lagoons is very similar to those of mediterranean coastal paralic basins. This tends to confirm the existence of a common biological organization of most of paralic basins.


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Published

1990-07-17