An Analysis of the Relationship between Sediment Physical-Chemical
Characteristics and the Abundance of the
Mud Shrimp, Corophium volutator
SUMMARY
The mud shrimp, Corophium volutator, is a major component of the fauna of intertidal mudflats in northern areas of the Atlantic Ocean. Numerous studies have been carried out to define the physical-chemical characteristics of intertidal sediments necessary for colonization and support of C. volutator populations. The factors currently thought to be most important are sediment particle size, water content and organic content. To determine if C. volutator density could be predicted from these and other related factors, data obtained from the existing literature was collated into a database and used to explore the relationships between these sediment parameters and the density of C. volutator.
The results of the analysis indicated that C. volutator densities could not be predicted with any degree of confidence using multivariate regression procedures based on the sediment parameters included in the database. It is not clear if this is a result of the quality or comparability of the data, lack of consideration of other important sediment characteristics, or that factors other than sediment characteristics are as, or perhaps more, important in determining C. volutator densities.