Descripción de la fauna macrobentónica en la zona intermareal del litoral de Huelva donde se desarrolla la pesquería de la coquina (DOnax trunculus Linnaeus, 1758)

Abstract

This study reports the benthic megafauna that inhabit the coast of Huelva where the wedge clam fishery is carried out with hand dredges. Samples were collected seasonally using a specially designed hand dredge similar to that used by local fishermen but with a smaller mesh size bag (3 mm x 3mm). 35 georeferenced transects were performed using a GPS device to standardize data to swept area. A total of 45918 individuals with a biomass of 52799 g were obtained. An inventory of 32 species belonging to 5 phyla was identified from February to November 2014 in these fishing areas. In relation to the number of species and biomass, the Mollusca phylum was the most abundant group followed by Arthropoda. The most dominant bivalve mollusc was Donax trunculus (84%), followed by Mactra stultorum and M. glauca. The frequency index of D. trunculus was 100% for each season, and maximum values of abundance and biomass were observed in spring and summer.