Ecology of the sand dollar Mellita quinquiesperforata latiambulacra on the west-central coast of Venezuela (Caribbean Sea)

Mellita quinquiesperforata latiambulacra is an important component of sandy benthic communities at 0.5 to 6.0m depth off the west-central coast of Venezuela, on sediments with a high proportion of fines. The maximum recorded density for juveniles was 2570 ind./m² while that for the adults was 87 ind./m². An almost continuous recruitment through the year was found at Quizandal, with a maximum peak in May and June. The Brady’Bertalanffy growth equation for the three first years of life, on the basis of monthly sampling was obtained: L_t = 63.0 (i-_e ^{-0.0943(t-to)}). The instantaneous mortality coefficient was calculated as M = 0.36, with an average life expectancy of 2.8 years and 95% of the theoretical maximum size is reached after 5.6 years of life. The annual mortality rate of the population is calculated to be 30%.