The meiobenthos was sampled at 119 localities along 1,500 km of Svalba
rd shores in the summers 1988-1993. The principal taxa were determined
from 5-cm-long sediment cores collected during low tide on soft sedim
ent shores. The density ranged from 0 to > 10,000 ind/10 cm2. Nematoda
was the most common and abundant taxon. Nematoda and Turbellaria, alo
ng with Oligochaeta and Harpacticoida, were typical and the most frequ
ent set of taxa. The occurrence of meiofaunal taxa was weakly correlat
ed with geographical area; the local habitat characteristics were deci
sive. The most abundant meiobenthos, with mean abundance > 900 ind/10
cm2 and the biomass about 0.34 g dry wt per 1 m2, was found on the wes
tern coast of South Spitsbergen.