A comparative study of the mollusc communities of a Mediterranean saltwork (Marsala, Western Sicily.

Saltworks are peculiar artificial ecosystems and holds great interest for basic research. In fact the cooling vat (the first pond of the evaporating series) is a good example of a relatively closed area and can be considered an excellent in the field open-air laboratory, namely a mesocosm reproducing a simplified model of the natural condition of hyperaline lagoons. The aim of the present work was to analyse the structure, composition and distribution of molluscan assemblages and to identify the faunistic relationships between the cooling vat and the neighbouring basin of Stagnone di Marsala, beside considering exchanges between saltwork, Stagnone di Marsala and sea, on soft- bottom, covere…