COMMUNITY STRUCTURE OF CAPRELLID-AMPHIPODS (CRUSTACEA) ON SEAGRASSES IN OTSUCHI BAY, NORTHEASTERN JAPAN, WITH REFERENCE TO THE ASSOCIATION OF CAPRELLA-JAPONICA (SCHURIN) AND PHYLLOSPADIX-IWATENSIS MAKINO

The community structure of caprellids inhabiting 3 species of seagrass es was investigated at 6 stations of the sublittoral zone of Otsuchi B ay, northeastern Japan. Ten species of Caprella were collected from 5 stations, while no caprellids were collected from the estuary station where the salinity was 6.8 to 26.4 (PSU). The community structure of c aprellids can be separated into two groups; Caprella japonica was stro ngly associated with Phyllospadix iwatensis which is distributed on ro cky outcrops, while C. tsugarensis was with Zostera marina and Z. caul escens near the inner most part of the bay.