Spatial variability of the structure of the Harpacticoida (Copepoda) crustacean assemblages in intertidal and shallow-water zones of European seas

On the basis of original and published data for 26 sites off Europe (the Barents, White, Black, Caspian, North, Baltic, Mediterranean, and Adriatic seas and the Atlantic Ocean) we assessed the variability of the near-shore benthic harpacticoid assemblages. A set of six life forms is recognized that retains its composition regardless of the geographical location and species composition of the assemblage. It is shown that the geographical variability of harpacticoid assemblages is low and intraregional and biotopical variations in the structure of these assemblages are often greater than their interregional (geographical) variability. It seems that the main factors that control the composition of species and life forms of harpacticoids are the characteristics of the sediments and the hydrodynamical processes that determine the structure of the sediments and the salinity.