Relationships of benthic amphipod communities with environmental variables in the shallow waters of the Dardanelles

The structure of the benthic amphipod assemblage and its relationship with soft-bottom characteristics (particle size, organic matter, etc.) of the coastal waters at the depths of 0–5 m at the Dardanelles, including the Turkish Straits System, was studied. A SCUBA diver took benthos and sediment samples seasonally using a quadrate system of 30×30 cm as three transects from the 8 different stations between July 2008 and April 2009. A total of 3007 individuals belonging to 50 species was reported. Among these, Corophium acutum Chevreux, 1908 had the highest dominance value (Di%=22.18) and the lowest dominance value belonged to Dexamine thea Boeck, 1861 (Di%=0.03). The highest positive correlation (r s =0.57, p