About IAM

The International Association of Meiobenthologists (IAM) publishes a biannual newsletter, Psammonalia , and sponsors a triennial international conference. Psammonalia is published in January and June.

The first issue of Psammonalia was published 10 November 1966 and was 2 pages long. It was sent out by Bob Higgins, the founding chairperson and the editor from 1966-1968. The first International Conference on Meiofauna was held July 1-11, 1969 in Tunis, Tunisia. It was organized by Bob Higgins and Neil Hulings (both on staff at the Mediterranean Marine Sorting Center in Tunis at the time). At that time the organization was called the "Association of Meiobenthologists". The name was changed to "International Association of Meiobenthologists" in 1976.

About Meiobenthology

Meiobenthology is the study of small, mostly microscopic, animals that live on the bottom in aquatic habitats such as beaches, mud flats, and the deep sea. The majority of recognized phyla have meiofaunal representatives. Currently, 20 phyla considered to be meiofaunal from the 34 recognized phyla of the Kingdom Animalia. Out of these 20 phyla, five are exclusively meiofaunal in size.



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