Taylor Burley MARB 435 March 17, 2014

Meiobenthos Diversity, Highlighting Phylum Nematoda on East Beach in Galveston, Texas

Introduction Meiofauna are small and benthic invertebrates that inhabit marine and fresh water environments (Giere, 2009). The meiofauna are smaller than macrofauna but larger than microfauna, and are mostly found in soft sediments, within the interstitial spaces (Giere, 2009). Meiobenthos fauna can vary based upon the habitat among which they are found, the season and the tidal state (Giere, 2009). When habitats of meiofauna are described, grain size plays a key role since it determines conditions and the physical and chemical aspects of the sediment among which the meiofauna reside (Giere, 2009). Meiofauna play an important role in benthos habitats because of their high abundance and rapid turnover rates (Coull, 1999). They feed on benthic microalgae and other detrital food sources which keep microbial communities active (Coull, 1999). The purpose of the lab is to identify and examine meiofauna species in the natural habitat within the interstitial spaces. Materials and Methods Two samples were taken above the water line and two samples were taken at about a meter below the water line. Samples were obtained by sieving a shovel full of sediment through a 150 m sieve into a bucket. This process was repeated several times for each sample site until approximately 3 inches of sediment was accumulated in the bottom of each bucket. The sediment samples were taken back to the lab to be analyzed. Using smaller 53 m mesh sieve, the

Taylor Burley MARB 435 March 17, 2014

sediment was sieved again and a placed into a dish with magnesium chloride solution to anesthetize the organisms in the interstitial spaces. The sediment was examined under a dissection microscope first to view any larger organisms. Then, the sediment was viewed under a compound microscope with 10x magnification. The meiofauna was examined and identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible. The environmental sampling parameters can be seen in Table 1 below.
Table 1. Sampling parameters for meiofauna sampling on February 24, 2014.

Sampling Parameters Date/ Time: Place: Air temperature: Monday, February 24, 2014 1341 CST East Beach Galveston, Texas 16 C

Water temperature: 17.3 C Water salinity: Weather: Wind speed: Tidal state: 21 ppt 100% cloud cover, light fog, misting 8 knots East Rising

Results Five differing species of meiofauna were found at East Beach tidal water line, above and below. These species include Phylum Nematoda, Class Ostracoda, Class Gastropoda, Phylum

Taylor Burley MARB 435 March 17, 2014

Tardigrada, and Family Sabellidae. Not all species were found in both above and below the tidal water line.

Meiofauna Diversity Below and Above the Water Line

6 5

Number of Individuals

4 3 2 1 0 Above the water line Below the water line

Phylum Nematoda Class Ostracoda Class Gastropoda Phylum Tardigrada Family Sabellidae

Figure 1. Species diversity above the water line and below the water line at East Beach in Galveston, Texas

Discussion Meiobenthos diversity at the water line can be characterized by the species abundance above and below the water line. As can be seen in Figure 1, the species abundance above the water line is far greater than that below the water line. There are three species represented below the water line and four species represented above the water line. However, below the water line Family Sabellidae, the polychaete tube worms, are found only below the water line. This could be due to the low sample size that was taken, since polychaete tube worms can be found in intertidal zones around the world. Class Ostracoda and Phylum Tardigrada are found only above

Taylor Burley MARB 435 March 17, 2014

the water line. This, as well, could be due to the low sample size collected, since only one of each of these species was found. The tidal state could have an effect on the amount of species above the water line. As the tide goes out, those species that were brought in are left above the water line until the tide rises again. The most abundant species found was within the Phylum Nematoda, possibly because of the ease of identifying these organisms from the sand grains. The species count found in these samples was sparse and not very abundant. This could be due to the colder temperatures and weather on this day, as can be seen in Table 1 above. Taxon Description Phylum Nematoda are unsegmented aceolomate and pseudocoelomate worms that are present in all environments (Pechenik, 2010). Phylum Nematoda are found in the Kingdom Animalia, Subkingdom Eumetazoa, and Superphylum Ecdysozoa. They are typically known as round worms and more than half of the phyla are parasitic (Pechenik, 2010). These worms are one of the most abundant multicellular organisms of today and can reach up to 1 million individuals per square meter in shallow water sediments (Pechenik, 2010). Nematodes have a tubular digestive system with openings at both ends, unlike that of cnidarians and flatworms (Pechenik, 2010). Nematodes are usually less than 2.5 mm long, with the smallest being microscopic and some parasitic species reaching over a meter in length (Weischer, 2000). The head is spade-like and the rest of the body is bilaterally symmetric (Pechenik, 2010). Nematodes lack a stomach, with the pharynx connecting directly to a muscleless intestine that forms the length of the gut

Taylor Burley MARB 435 March 17, 2014

(Weischer, 2000). Nitrogenous waste is excreted ammonia through the body wall and is not associated with any particular organ (Pechenik, 2010). Most nematodes are dioecious, possessing separate male and female individuals (Pechenik, 2010). Reproduction is sexual with the males being much smaller than the females (Pechenik, 2010). Males use a spicule for copulation and the eggs may be embryonated or unembryonated (Pechenik, 2010). Eggs are protected by an outer shell that is secreted by the uterus (Pechenik, 2010). Free living roundworm eggs hatch into larva and parasitic roundworms life cycle is often more complicated (Pechenik, 2010).

Mouth

47 m

Anus
Figure 2. Phylum Nematoda; Whole mount

Taylor Burley MARB 435 March 17, 2014

References Coull, B. C. 1999. Role of meiofauna in estuarine soft-bottom habitats. Australian Journal of Ecology 24: 327343. Giere, Olav. 2009. Meiobenthology. The microscopic motile fauna of aquatic sediments, 2nd edition, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Pechenik, Jan A.. 2010. Biology of the Invertebrates, Sixth Edition. McGraw-Hill, New York Weischer B, Brown DJF. 2000. An Introduction to Nematodes: General Nematology. Sofia, Bulgaria: Pensoft.