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An examination of the available literature on Chilean meiofauna reveals that there is still much to discover. The majority of the literature is taxonomic in nature and predominantly written by non-Chileans. Though the macrofauna of the sandy beaches here has been well studied, the meiofauna has been practically ignored. We hope that this site will stimulate more research into all the aspects of meiobenthology in Chile, act as a central source of information on Chilean meiofauna, and as forum for communication and information exchange between Chilean meiobenthologists.

Structure:
Taxa: Information on the different meiofaunal taxa, including foraminiferans, turbellarians, nematodes, harpacticoids, gastrotrichs, halacarids, ostracods, polychaetes, oligochaetes and eventualy others.
Sampling and processing: How to find the meiofauna and process the samples, with advice from the Darwin Project (Plymouth Marine Laboratories and the Natural History Museum, London).
Rocky shores: Information on the meiofauna of rocky shores, a little explored area!
Sandy beaches: The traditional hunting ground for meiobenthologists.
Ecotoxicology: The meiofauna constitute an important model assemblage for investigating the impact of contamination on the marine benthic environment.
References: Including general meiofaunal references, references specific to Chilean meiofauna and keys for the identification of meiofauna.
Forum and news: This section will contain information on courses, confrences and other academic activities relavent to meiobenthologists both here in Chile and elsewhere. Also it will serve as an area discussion of themes relavent to meiobenthology in Chile.
Links: Information on other sites out there on the meiobenthos.

Note from the Webmaster: This is a work in progress, there is still content to be added and I hope that this website will evolve over time. If anyone wishes to make constructive comments or suggestions, or would be interested in providing some content for the site, then please contact me.