Effects of hypoxia on macrobenthos of the inner shelf off Cameron,Louisiana

The effects of hypoxic bottom water, an annual event, were documented on the inner shelf off Cameron, Louisiana during the summer of 1981. Populations of most species of macrobenthos were dramatically reduced. In an area of fine sediment that was numerically dominated by polychaetous annelids, the most severely affected populations were those of tube-dwelling and surface-feeding species. Burrowing species were less influenced by the hypoxia.