Preliminary Survey of Subtidal Crustaceans on Southeast Sapelo Island, Georgia

Abstract

The subtidal zone is the area below the low tide line that supports a wide variety of organisms, including subtidal crustaceans, which are understudied on Sapelo Island, GA. To investigate the impact of wave action on biodiversity and develop baseline data, the biodiversity of subtidal crustaceans from two beaches was compared. It was hypothesized that the beach protected from wave action would have higher biodiversity than the beach exposed to wave action. To collect the crustaceans, three different sampling methods were used on each beach: D-net, beam trawl, and Yabbi pump. The beach exposed to wave action yielded higher biodiversity than the protected beach, demonstrated by higher total abundance and total species richness. Despite these higher values, no significant differences were observed between sites other than when using the Yabbi pump collection method. These findings provide important baseline data that can aid in further ecological studies investigating crustacean diversity and distribution in subtidal zones of sandy beaches