OPHIUROID ASSEMBLAGES OFF THE LAGOA-DOS-PATOS OUTLET, SOUTHERN BRAZIL

Benthic samples were taken at 44 stations located on the continental shelf influenced by the outflow from the Lagoa dos Patos, southern Brazil. The 8 species of ophiuroids present in 20 samples were identified and grouped by cluster analysis into two assemblages, roughly separated by the 30 m isobath. The first assemblage consisted of Amphiura joubini, Amphiura flexuosa, Amphiura crassipes, Amphiura complanata, Nudamphiura carvalhoi, Amphioplus albidus (disc diameter < 5 mm) and the second of Amphioplus albidus (disc diameter > 5 mm), Diamphiodia planispina and Hemipholis elongata. Multiple discriminant analyses employing measurements of environmental and sedimentological parameters corroborate the separation of the two assemblages. The presence of 4 species of the genus Amphiura in the same assemblage suggests resource parti­tioning at microhabitat level. Copyright © 1990 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.