Shipwrecks of the Belgian Continental Shelf harbors rich and diversified epibenthic communities. In terms of density, tube builder and dweller amphipods are important component of the communities of these hard structures lying in a sea of soft sediments. Four sites at varying distance from the coast were investigated through SCUBA techniques. Three species, Jassa herdmani (Walker, 1893), Monocorophium sextonae Crawford, 1937 and Monocorophium acherusicum Costa, 1851, were identified with contrasting occurrence and densities on the different sites. J. herdmani is present on all the investigated sites with maximal density of 615.200 ind/m2. M. sextonae is found on intermediate and offshore sites at maximal density of 29.200 ind/m2. M. acherusicum has maximal density of 4.990 ind/m2 but is only found on intermediate and close to the coast sites. The occurrence of M. acherusicum close to the coast is probably related to its affinity to water with a reduced salinity.
All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy
