STABILITY OF THE DEPOSIT FEEDING COMMUNITY OF A MUD FLAT IN THE RIVER TEES

During an eighteen-month study of Seal Sands, a mud-flat in the Estuary of the River Tees, England, the numerical structure of the fauna proved to be highly stable. Comparison with earlier work suggests that this stability has been maintained for some time despite the faunal assemblage in question consisting of large numbers of both tube building and infaunal deposit feeding annelids. Although the salinity in the area is generally close to 33% the numerical dominant was Manayunkia aestuarina, a species usually regarded as being characteristic of brackish water. © 1979.