Polychaetes assemblage inside an artificial reef in the Northern Adriatic Sea. (Italy)

Artificial reefs are man-made structures placed on soft bottom, and used in coastal waters worldwide for a variety of reasons relating to fishery and environmental management and sustainability. Polychaetes represent one of the most dominant taxon in the macrozoobenthos and they are good indicators of species richness and community patterns in benthic invertebrate assemblages. This is probably due to their capability to adapt to several kind of habitats and environmental variation playing a major role in the functional structure of benthic community. For these reasons, we analyzed the development of the polychaetes community around the artificial reef of "Casteldimezzo-Monte Castellaro" placed in the Northern Adriatic Sea (Italy).