Meiobenthic Interactions with the Larvae/Juveniles of Macrobenthos

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Meiobenthic animals are thought to interfere with larval recruitment of large marine animals known as macrobenthos, both as they settle and subsequently as the young juveniles mature and occupy sediments. The nature of this "meiofaunal bottleneck" is poorly understood except for some experimental evidence from sandy sediments that some turbellarians eat settled larvae. Experiments will be undertaken to test the effect of functionally different meiobenthos on the success of macrofaunal larval settlement, juvenile movement, and juvenile growth and survival. In both laboratory and field experiments functionally different kinds of larval macrofauna will be allowed to settle with functionally different meiobenthos to determine if one more meiobenthic type inhibits or enhances larval settlement. In the laboratory, metamorphosed macrofauna will be allowed to migrate from meiofaunal patches to test the effect of meiofauna on juvenile emigration and dispersion. Additionally selected macrobenthic juveniles will be forced to live with different meiofauna to determine the effect on juvenile survivorship and growth. The experiments are designed to predict early macrofaunal recruitment, growth, and survivorship in the presence of functionally different meiobenthos.