COMMUNITY STRUCTURE OF THE DECAPOD CRUSTACEANS IN THE MIDDLE BATHYAL ZONE OF THE SARDINIAN CHANNEL

A series of experimental catches between 500 and 1050 m was carried ou t in the Sardinian Channel (mid-western Mediterranean sea) to obtain i nformation on the distribution of several species of decapod crustacea ns. The collections were made by bottom trawls in two different period s, summer and winter, during the years 1989, 1990, and 1991. Forty-sev en species of Decapoda were collected. The most common species caught in all the strata examined are Aristeus antennatus, Plesionika martia, P. acanthonotus, and Polycheles typhlops. Acanthephyra eximia and Cym onomus granulatus have been caught in this area for the first time. Th irty-four percent of the species show a seasonal variation in bathymet ric distribution. Below 650-700 m the species-composition changes and the number of species decreases.