title: Ecology of twelve species of Thyasiridae (Mollusca: Bivalvia).
abstract: Benthic samples from coastal locations off Southwestern Norway were examined and the specimens of Thyasiridae were identified to species. A multivariate analysis based on 13 parameters was carried out and the environmental preferences of all thyasirid species present were determined. The potential of the Thyasiridae as indicators of organic enrichment was investigated by using direct canonical correspondence analyses to identify correlations between selected environmental parameters and the collected biological data. The presence of Thyasira sarsi together with a low biodiversity is a good indicator of organic enrichment. High thyasirid species diversity seems to indicate good environmental conditions, and single thyasirid species that lack symbiotic bacteria might also be useful as indicators of good environmental conditions.
authors.affiliation: University of Bergen, Department of Biology, 5020 Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Rozemarijn
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Keuning
authors.forename: Christoffer
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schander
authors.forename: Jon Anders
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Kongsrud
authors.forename: Endre
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Willassen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D049872:Bivalvia / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009664:Norway; D013559:Symbiosis; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical