Citation: Keegan, B.F., O'Connor, B.D.S., McGrath, D., Könnecker, G. & O Foighil, D. 1987 Littoral and benthic investigations on the south coast of Ireland - II. The macrobenthic fauna off Carnsore Point. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 87B: 1-14
Number of Pages: 14
Volume Part: 1
Keywords: Benthos, Checklist, Community, Currents, Fauna, Marine, Mollusca, Sediment, Sedimentology, Sublittoral, Wexford
Abstract: This is the second paper in the 'Littoral and benthic investigations on the south coast of Ireland' series and reports on 279 stations off Carnsore Point (southeast Ireland) which were qualitatively sampled for their macrobenthic fauna in 1977-78. Much of the area surveyed experiences strong tidal currents and weather-induced turbulence; bottom sediments are correspondingly low in their 'fines' and organic carbon contents. Four hundred and seventy-nine species were identified, and these are assigned to different communities on the basis of hierarchical classification of species binary data. The communities are broadly considered in terms of the associated physical environment and are compared to some near equivalents in other temperate areas.