Zygochlamys patagonica beds on the Argentinian shelf. Part I: Energy flow through the scallop bed community

CLAUDIA S. BREMEC; THOMAS BREY; JUAN L. VALERO; MARIO L. LASTA; LUIS O. LUCIFORA

ARCHIVE OF FISHERY AND MARINE RESEARCH

Año: 2000 vol. 48 p. 295 - 303

0944-1921

The scallop bank, “Reclutas”, on the Argentinian shelf was sampled on two occasions, first, some months after initial settlement of the scallop Zygochlamys patagonica (1995) and again, 4 years later (1998). Z. patagonica already dominated the epibenthic community (33 species) in 1995, contributing 26 % to community biomass (2.85 g C·m-2) and 40 % to community production (0.75 g C·m-2·y-1; 95 % confidence interval: 0.63 to 0.89 g). In 1998, both community biomass (4.64 g C·m-2) and production (1.33 g C·m-2·y-1 95 % confidence interval: 1.12 to 1.57 g) were higher, and the proportion of Z. patagonica rose to > 60 % for both.