Polychaete Worm Communities in Southeastern Brazil, 2005-2006

Southeastern Brazilian coastal waters near Sao Paulo State and Santos. This dataset contains species-level identifications of polychaete worms associated with the coral Mussismilia hispida from two islands and from a broader continental shelf survey. The shelf study sampled 21 stations in 2005-2006, collecting 16,274 individuals across 214 species, with community composition analyzed against sediment and depth gradients.

Use Cases

• Modeling species distribution based on sediment type and depth gradients described in the study.
• Analyzing benthic community structure and functional groups as defined in the description.
• Studying biodiversity metrics like richness and diversity across a continental shelf transect.
• Investigating symbiotic relationships between polychaetes and stony coral hosts.

Strengths

• Species-level identification for all collected polychaetes.
• Spatio-temporal sampling design with 21 stations sampled in duplicate across two seasons.
• High taxonomic resolution with 214 species identified from 16,274 individuals.
• Explicit linkage of community patterns to environmental factors like sediment grain size and sorting.

Limitations

• Last updated 2006-04-12 23:59:59.999000; freshness should be verified.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

SCIOPS via nasa_earthdata

Collection Method

Field collection using box-corer for shelf survey; coral colony fixation, decalcification, and sifting for symbiotic study.

Time Range

2005-2006

Freshness

2006-04-12

Geography

Laje de Santos and Alcatrazes islands, and the continental shelf adjacent to Santos, Sao Paulo State, Brazil