A multidisciplinary approach to study confined marine basins: the holobenthic and merobenthic assemblages in the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Ionian Sea, Mediterranean)

Benthic foraminifera and ostracods, and resting stages (cysts) of plankton were analysed from surface sediment samples collected at 20 stations in the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Ionian Sea, Mediterranean), with the aim to advance our knowledge on the biodiversity and ecological features of confined marine areas and to upgrade the autoecology of the species, and to have a more detailed and complete information to be applied as the baseline in future studies on environmental quality. In order to better assess the spatial distribution of the holobenthic and merobenthic species, we conceived a simple method of spatial analysis, based on all the identified taxa of foraminifera, ostracods and plankton cysts. Five groups were established on the basis of the number of sites per sub-basin where each taxon was registered, and this allowed us to recognise the preferential patterns of distribution for 150 species. The good correspondence between the results of the spatial analysis and those obtained from the analysis of the communities and the uni- and multivariate statistics showed a clear difference between the two sub-basins of the Mar Piccolo of Taranto.