A Comparative Study of Amphipods in Seagrasses from Florida to Nova Scotia

A comparative sampling study of the amphipods associated with seagrass beds was carried out along a latitudinal range from Florida to Nova Scotia. Samples were divided roughly into the Acadian, Virginian, and Caribbean faunal provinces and compared with respect to mean density, number of species, diversity, and evenness of amphipods. No significant differences in these parameters among the faunal provinces were found. For samples from Zostera marina sites, density of amphipods decreased with increasing latitude. Samples from Thalassia testudinum sites had significantly lower values of density, number of species, and evenness than either Halodule wrightii or Zostera sites. Significant differences were found between the most northern sites and the most southern sites in the size and relative abundance of epifaunal species (but not infaunal species). It is suggested that this difference may be due to a difference in predation intensity at the two locations.