Wittmann 1981a
Wittmann 1981a
WITTMANN, K. J., 1981a: The ties to habitat and biotope in Mediterranean Mysidacea. Dissertation Abstracts international, (C) 41 (3) (no. 5/3444c): 515.
The ties to certain habitats or biotopes are the result of the process of adapting the requirements of the organism to the totality of the living and non-living environment. Therefore, such ties can be demonstrated in the following aspects of the relations of an organism to its environment: the non-living environment (climatic and edaphic factors), intraspecific relations (population regulation and social behaviour), and relations to the biotic community (especially food chain relationships and commensalisms are examined).
25 species of Mysidacea were studied in the Adriatic and the Tyrrhenian Sea over a period of five years. The study was conducted in the field as well as in the laboratory using differing observation, sampling, staining, and culturing methods.
The spatial distribution is shown to be characterized by bathymetric patterns, character of the substrate, climatic and edaphic parameters, and social behaviour (swarming). Growth and time of development depends on species, age, sex, availability of food, season and temperature. There is evidence of food and density dependent population regulation. The seasonal cycles of reproduction correspond to the seasonal variations in food availability and temperature. The observed species are mainly active filter feeders. This mode of feeding is coupled with a high migrational activity, resulting in a weak relationship to the other organisms in the benthic community. This coincides with the finding that the observed Mysidacea are indigenous inhabitants of the near bottom pelagial (at daytime), and that they show less specificities toward the benthic biotopes, to which they seem to be tied more through climatic and edaphic factors than by biotic relations.
marine; autecology; bionomy; behaviour; reproduction; distribution
Mysidacea