Low Benthic Macrofauna Diversity in Dynamic, Tropical Tidal Mudflats: Migrating Banks on Guiana's Coast, South America

In tropical South America, the mudflats of the Amazonian coast are unique because of their large size and unrivaled migration dynamics. On Guiana’s coast, macrofaunal communities are believed to be well-adapted to these dynamic conditions. In this study, the benthic macrofauna was sampled in April 2012 in the Awala-Yalimapo region of western French Guiana and at two sites in Suriname: Warappa Kreek and Bigi Pan. These sites are found 800, 920, and 1140 km from the Amazon delta, respectively. The richness, diversity, and densities of the macrofaunal communities in these mudflats are here described for the first time. Only 38 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were recorded, among which two species were common and widely distributed: the tanaid crustacean Halmyrapseudes spaansi and the polychaete Sigambra grubii; the former represented 84% of all individuals collected, with densities reaching up to 73,000 individuals m−2. Most of the OTUs consisted of relatively small individuals (