Assessment of the benthic macro invertebrate community in the Mar Piccolo of Taranto

The aim of this study was to determine the structure of the benthic macroinvertebrate communities in Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Ionian Sea, Central Mediterranean). The sampling was done on annual basis for three years (from 2002 to 2004), and the samples were taken using a Van Veen. A total of 258 species were identified. Benthic macroinvertebrate composition was dominated by the presence of Mollusca and Crustaceans that made up 63% of the species. Anellida represented 11.6% of species, followed by Echinodermata and Tunicata with 7.4 and 7.8% respectively and Porifera with 5.1% of the total species identified. Briozoa and Cnidaria accounted for about 3 and 2%. During the three years of study the benthic community remained almost constant