Epifauna-associated community of tide pools dominated by Cystoseira humilis from the NE Atlantic Ocean

Abstract

Tide pools are common in the intertidal regions. They show high heterogeneity regarding their inherent characteristics and associated communities. Epifaunal tide pool communities have been overlooked in coastal studies. Here, we describe the epifaunal macroinvertebrate communities of six tide pools dominated by Cystoseira humilis on northwest coast of Tenerife (Canary Islands) and attempt to unravel the variability of these habitats to determine the effect of different variables on these communities. The epifaunal community in the studied tide pools comprised 74 species, mostly mollusks (24 species), annelids (23 species), and crustaceans (18 species). In terms of epifaunal richness and algal coverage the tide pools exhibited a parallel trend. The same tide pools boasting higher species richness also display high algal coverage, with both variables declining in the same order along the different tide pools. Tide pools with a high human presence showed the highest abundance, species richness, and algal coverage. A statistically significant effect of human presence and algal cover on the tidepool epifaunal community was observed. Unfortunately, the variability remained too high to unravel the effects of different variables on the epifaunal invertebrate community.