Density and biomass of the meiofauna in the eastern sea of Xiamen and Anhai Bay

The meiofauna was investigated in the eastern sea of Xiamen and Anhai Bay in July 2007.The results showed that the meiofauna density in the eastern sea of Xiamen was 22.67±10.21 ind/cm2,the average biomass was 23.01±10.41 μg/cm2.The density in Anhai Bay was 31.48±45.58 ind/cm2 and the average biomass was 18.28±25.69 μg/cm2.A total of 12 groups were recognized in the study and free-living marine nematode was the most dominant group accounting for 84.56% in the eastern sea of Xiamen and 98.19% in Anhai Bay,respectively.Based on the biomass,polychaetes(37.80%),marine nematodes(33.32%) and benthic copepods(18.64%) were the most important groups in the eastern sea of Xiamen while they were marine nematodes(67.64%) and polychaetes(30.46%) in Anhai Bay.