TILBERT, S. A. S.; http://lattes.cnpq.br/4353619699939897; SILVA, Sebastião Tilbert Ângelo da.
Resumo:
The meiofauna consists of an ecological group composed of microscopic metazoans, living in
small interstitial spaces among the sand grains with representatives in aquatic ecosystems
(marine, estuarine and freshwater) and in moist soil, water-sediment interface. These reduced
body size of organisms, ranging from 0.05 mm to 0.045mm in length make an important role
in nutrient cycling and energy flow from the lower levels to the higher marine and estuarine
trophic web.These animals possess the morphology, physiology and life cycle characteristics,
and is also found in association with other creatures, like as algae. Through this work we
studied the influence of salinity in the structure and composition of meiofauna and
tardigradofauna of Pirangi estuary - RN, and held the first records Batillipes pennaki and
Batillipes sp. nov. to the Rio Grande do Norte. The sampling occurred in April 2014, along
the estuary in three transects on the north bank and three transects on the south bank with four
replicates each, totaling 24 samples. These points for prospecting were determined according
to the salinity gradient. Samples were collected at a depth of 10cm, with the aid of a PVC tube
with 9.42cm² inner area. The meiofauna of this ecosystem was composed by: Nematoda,
Tardigrada, Oligochaeta, Gastrotricha, Turbellaria, Copepoda, Acari, Ostracoda and
Polychaeta. The meiofauna community of the north and south margins of the estuary
presented correlations with organic matter and salinity, and the north margin is different
significantly in their structure and meiofauna composition between sampling point sand the
south margin (significance level of 0.1%). The Tardigrada fauna was somewhat different,
with two species Batillipes pennaki e Batillipes sp. nov. being dominated by B. pennaki. The
new specie of Tardigrada B. sp. nov. description is in process. These unprecedented record for
the Rio Grande do Norte emphasizing Phylum Tardigrada, demonstrate the importance of new
taxonomic studies about this group meiofaunistico.