The Ostracoda (Crustacea) of the Tina Menor estuary (Cantabria, southern Bay of Biscay): Distribution and ecology

Abstract

Recent ostracods from the Tina Menor estuary (northern Spain, southern Bay of Biscay) have been analysed. Twenty-five species have been identified for the first time, 20 with living individuals during the sampling period. The most abundant species are Leptocythere castanea, Leptocythere porcellanea, Loxoconcha elliptica, Cytherois fischeri, and Hemicytherura hoskini, Leptocythere psammophila and Semicytherura aff. angulata. These species are grouped into four assemblages defining different environments: muddy inner estuary with euryhaline species (L. elliptica); middle estuary with silty sand flats and low marsh environments (L. castanea, L. porcellanea and C. fischeri); sandy outer estuary with marine characteristics (H. hoskini, S. aff. angulata, Leptocythere baltica and L. psammophila); and littoral to inner shelf environment (Caudites calceolatus, H. hoskini and Callistocythere murrayi). In the middle estuary, L. castanea also delimits sandy–silty low marshes, and L. porcellanea and C. fischeri the vegetated ecosystems. Multivariate analyses with the samples and species (cluster Q-type and detrended and canonical correspondence analysis) confirm that ostracod distribution in the Tina Menor estuary is controlled by sediment grain size and by the distance to the mouth of the estuary (associated to salinity). The geographical height in relation with mean tide levels (and therefore with emersion periods) also plays an important role in distribution.The results of this study confirm ostracod validity as tide-level markers due to the presence of C. fischeri below the MHWNT (mean high water neap tide), whereas L. castanea and L. porcellanea are present between the MHWNT and MHW (mean high water) levels.Ostracods can also indicate environmental changes due to human-influenced processes. Abundant individuals of L. elliptica in some areas of the middle estuary evidence discharges of lower-salinity water from a nearby fish farm. Ostracods from the marine shelf reach the inner estuary, but continental species are not provided by the rivers. The low river influence may be due to Nansa River flow regulation upstream, which hampers the transport of fluvial sediments, resulting in an increase in sand in the mudflat and low marshes, the latter fact confirmed by the numbers of L. castanea and L. porcellanea, much higher than in other estuaries in the southern Bay of Biscay.