Polychaete Communities Related to Plant Covering in the Médiolittoral and Infralittoral Zones of the Balearic Islands (Western Méditerranean)

Abstract. The polychaete fauna of the subtidal in the médiolittoral and the infralittoral hard bottom zones of the Balearic Islands at depths from 0 to 40m contained 220 species. Five different polychaete communities could be identified by changes in abundance, species richness, species composition, diversity, and trophic structure. In the very clear waters of these islands the infralittoral zone extends to a depth of 40 m and allows us to investigate whether former proposed models of polychaete distribution can be extended to this particular situation.