he one-year survey of three undisturbed and four disturbed sites conducted in 2001 allowed comparison of the worm faunal assemblages in mangroves directly or indirectly affected by anthropogenic development, with undisturbed sites. Although mean diversity was lower and abundance slightly higher in disturbed mangroves, univariate analyses found no significant differences in overall mean species richness and abundance between disturbed and undisturbed mangroves. A significant disturbance × assemblage interaction for worm abundance indicated that abundance in disturbed and undisturbed sites differed between assemblages. Mean worm abundance is apparently higher in disturbed sites in the tidal creek and to a lesser extent the seaward assemblage, but is apparently lower than undisturbed sites in the landward assemblages