The meiofauna (size range 53 to 1000 !-lm) of the mangrove
shore sediments in Malaysia consist predominantly of
free-living nematodes, harpacticoid copepods, oligochaetes
and kinorhynchs, increasing in abundance with decreasing
tidal height where water stress is minimal. The highest
density of 1l09±27 individuals per 10 cm-2 occurred in the
Avicennia station of the lower shore, while a density of
583±186 individuals per 10 cm-2 was obtained at the mid-tide
level Rhizophora station, and the high shore Bruguiera
station had the lowest density of 407±188 individuals per 10
cm-2• The meiofaunal biomass was 6.16 mg, 7.54 mg and 0.96
mg w.w. per 10 cm-2 in the Avicennia, Rhizophora and Bruguiera stations respectively. The reduction in meiofauna
numbers and biomass on the high shore is attributed to habitat instability arising from intense salinity fluctuations, infrequent tidal cover and water stress. The
fauna was unevenly constituted with the nematodes forming
80 to 93% of the meiofauna community, and the harpacticoids
being the next abundant group. Most meiofauna live in the
upper 2 cm layer of the sediment. It may be concluded that
the greatest abundance of meiofauna occurred in the lower
shoreAvicennia forest and the lowest abundance in the high
shore Bruguiera forest