Macrobenthic Community at the Subtidal Area Around Taebudo in Kyeonggi Bay, Korea

Macrobenthic community structure was studied at thirteen stations in Taebudo subtidal area, Korea, from July to October 1996. Triple macrobenthos samples were collected using a van Veen grab (0.1 ) at each station during the study period. A total of 209 species of macrobenthos was sampled with a mean density of 1,093 ind./ and biomass of 134,86 g/. Of these, there were 72 species of polychaetes (), 69 crustaceans () and 49 molluscs (). Polyalaetes were represented as a density-dominant faunal group with a mean density of 608 ind./, comprising of the total benthic animals. It was followed by crustaceans with 307 ind./( of the total density), Echinoderms were represented as a biomass-dominant faunal group with a mean biomass of 54.21 g/( of total biomass). Total number of species and diversity were low in the inner part of the study area with high mud content and high in the offshore stations of mixed sediments. Major dominant species were three polychaetes, Heteromastus filifomis, Scoloplos armiger and Tharyx sp. whose mean densities were 70 ind./, 67 ind./, and 66 ind./, respectively. Cluster analysis showed that the study area could be divided into five stational groups based on the faunal composition, that is, the innermost stations, coastal stations, transitional stations and two offshore station groups. The species diversity of these groups increased from the inner stational group toward the outer groups.