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Community structure and biodiversity of shallow water macrobenthic fauna at Noor coast, South Caspian Sea, Iran
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 June 2010
Abstract
For studying community structure and biodiversity of macrofauna, seasonal samplings were carried out along three different depths (5, 15 and 30 m) in four transects (12 stations) at Noor coast during 2005. Four higher taxa were determined. Polychaeta was the dominant group comprising 96.61 of the total individuals, followed by Bivalvia 1.35%, Oligochaeta 1.15% and Amphipoda 0.87%. Of the six encountered species, the polychaete, Streblospio gynobranchiata accounted for 84.95 of the total population. Also, Tubificoides fraseri was observed in the Caspian Sea for the first time. During this study, density of macrofauna increased with depths, total organic matter and percentage of silt–clay. The highest density was obtained in winter and the lowest was observed in summer. Maximum diversity, richness, and evenness were obtained, 0.91, 1.05 and 0.88, respectively. Also, multivariate analysis separated differences of density between seasons and depths.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 91 , Issue 3 , May 2011 , pp. 607 - 613
- Copyright
- Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2010
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