Assemblages of the moulluscan fauna in subtidal soft bottoms of the Ría de Aldán (north-western Spain)

Abstract

The composition and spatial distribution of the mollusc fauna on the subtidal soft bottoms of the Ría de Aldán (Galicia, north-western Spain) were studied by means of quantitative sampling and multivariate analyses. The faunal distribution was mainly conditioned by a sedimentary gradient that was defined by a decreasing grain size from the mouth towards the inner margins of the ría. Several assemblages were determined which could be defined according to the classic terms of ‘community’ and ‘facies’. A ‘Venus fasciata community’ and a ‘facies of Goodallia triangularis–Pisione parapari’ are present in coarser sandy sediments of the outer ría area. The communities characterized by ‘Venus gallina’ and ‘Tellina fabula–Tellina tenuis’ were found in the fine sand bottoms at the centre and margins of the ría. The shallower and muddier sediments in the inner ría showed a mix of typical species from the ‘Abra alba’ and the ‘Venus gallina’ communities, and in the Río Aldán's mouth could be distinguished a facies of a protected zone.