Predation by ants on intertidal polychaetes of a SW Atlantic coastal lagoon

GABRIELA PALOMO; PAULINA MARTINETTO; OSCAR IEIBARNE

Trujillo, Peru

Congreso; Congreso Latinoamericano sobre Ciencias del Mar; 1999

Asociacion Latinoamericana de Investigadores sobre Ciencias del Mar

Ants were observed in soft bottom intertidals of Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon (38 00' S - 57 30' W, Argentina) feeding on polychaetes. We investigated its activity, the mean distance between ants galleries and polychaetes burrows, which area of the soft bottom intertidal is used by ant for foraging and which size classes of prey were selected by them. Samplings were done in three different levels of the intertidal. Ants forage in the high intertidal level and select larger polychaetes size. This is a particular terrestrial-aquatic interaction that has not been identified before but, we believe, that may be a common phenomenon.