Macrofauna

Definition

Macrofauna are estuarine and marine organisms visible to the naked eye (> 0.5 mm) that commonly inhabit the benthos, where they can be found buried in sediment or attached to a fixed substrate (rocks, reefs, rhodolith, etc.). Some macrofauna may also be observed moving on the sediment surface as epifauna or in the water column. Macrofauna that are often abundant in the benthos include flatworms (Platyhelminthes), sipunculids, nematodes, polychaetes, isopods, amphipods, stomatopods, pycnogonids, chitons, bivalves, gastropods, echinoderms, bryozoans, and urochordates. Macrofauna that are commonly found in the water column include jellyfish, ctenophores, salps, and some larvae of benthic invertebrates such as sponges, mollusks, polychaetes, and crustaceans that exceed 0.5 mm in length. Benthic macrofauna can play an important role in the detoxification of estuarine and marine environments because they store and transform many types of pollutants (Greenway, 1995; Schlacher and...