Some Relationships Between the Infauna of the Level Bottom and the Sediment in South Florida

A study of the level bottom communities of south Florida in relation to the coarseness of the sediment has led to certain generalizations. Detritus feeders predominate in the finest sediments, and deposit and filter feeders at intermediate grades, but the latter are most abundant at a considerably greater particle size than that found by Sanders in Buzzards Bay. From a comparison of a number of selected communities, there is a very close correlation between the body size of the deposit feeders and the particle size, regardless of the type of animal concerned.