Current Research Journal of Biological Sciences 2(1): 53-58, 2010
ISSN: 2041-0778
© M axwell Scientific Organization, 2009
Submitted Date: September 14, 2009
Accepted Date: October 08, 2009
Published Date: January 05, 2010
Status on Seasonal Distribution of Macrobenthos from the Gulf of Mannar
(South East Coast) of India
B. Kaja Magdoo m, M. Kalaiselvam and T. Balasubramanian
CA S in M arine Biology , Annam alai University, Porto Novo, T amilnadu, Ind ia
Abstract: The present study on assessment of Macrobenthos is to construct a baseline data for the health of
the ecosystem; such organisms may not persist on the chemical stress and anthropogenic pollution activity.
Here the total m acrob entho s consisting of 21 species in 5 major grou ps, viz. crustaceans (6), gastrop ods (5),
bivalves (4), polychaetes (11) was recorded in Gulf of Mannar region of Tamilnadu. The population densities
of benth ic macrofauna ran ged from 3 07 to 4 97 ind .mG 2 , the diversity ranged from 1.0630 to 1.2480 bits ind.G 1 ,
the richness varied between 3.263 and 4.324, and the evenness varied between 0.8885 and 0.9557. And the
mean values for macrob entho s we re tabulated an d the S tation w ise perc entag e distribution of marine
macrobenthos were as in Shingle Island: Bivalves > Polychaetes > Gastropods > Crustaceans, in Pamban
Back water: Gastropods > B ivalves > Crustaceans > Polychaetes, in Kurusadai Island: Polychaetes > Bivalves
> Gastropods > Crustaceans. and in Rameshwaram backwater: Polychaetes > Bivalves > Gastropods >
Crustaceans, were observed throughout the study period, although there is no changes observed on the
distribution and abundance, all the study locations were free from pollution.
Key w ords: Island, macro benthos, nutrients, biodiversity, backwater and Gulf of Mannar
INTRODUCTION
Benthos is the org anism that inhabit in bottom of sea
or sea floo r. M acro be nthos play as an im portan t role in
aquatic community consist of involved in mineralization,
promoted and mixing of sediments and flux of oxygen
into sediments, cycling of orga nic matter and in effort to
assess the quality of inland water (Lind, 1979 ). The Gulf
of Mannar falls in the Indo-Pacific region, considered to
be one of world's richest marine biolog ical reso urces. This
is considered a hyp er fragile enviro nme nt, inhabiting all
the types of flora and fau na. The reef system in Gulf of
Mannar is around a chain of 21 uninhabited islands that
lie along the 140 km stretch between Tuticorin and
Rameswaram of Tamil Na du, on the southeast coast of
India. These islands are located between latitude 8º 47! N
and 9º 15!N and longitude 78º 12!E and 79º 14!E. The
average distance of these islands from mainland is about
8 km. T he pre sent study in the field of marine
macrobenthos was conducted within the M andapam group
of islands namely Shingle, Kurusadai and the backwater
systems including Pamban and R ameshw aram regions.
The Gulf of M annar is also well known for its diversity of
sea grasse s. Out of the fourteen species of seagrasses
under 6 genera known from Indian seas, thirteen species
occur in the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve, w ith
Halophila, Halodule, Enhalus and Cymodocea being
common among them (Venkataraman and W afar, 2005).
The Gulf of M annar is pred omin antly a high biodiv ersity
reef ecosystem with 147 species of seaweeds
(Kaliyaperumal, 1998), 17 species of sea cucumbe rs
(James, 2001), 510 species of finfishes (Durairaj 1998)
106 species of shellfishes such as crabs (Jeyabaskaran and
Ajmal Khan , 1998), 4 species of shrimps (Ramaiyan
et al., 1996) and 4 species of lob sters (Susheelan, 1993).
During recent survey on mollusc, 5 species of
polyplacophorans, 174 species of bivalves, 271 species of
gastropods, 5 species of scaphopods and 16 species of
cephalopods (Scaphopods added for the first time) w ere
recorded (Deepak and Patterson, 20 04). In addition, a
total of 10 true mangrove and 24 mangrove associated
species were recorded from the island s in the Biosp here
Reserve (Jeganathan et al., 2006). It has 3,600 species of
plants and animals tha t make it India 's biologically richest
coastal region (Global Environment Facility, 1999). The
GEF (1999) report quoted that: "of the 2,200 fish species
in Indian waters, 450 species (20 per cent) are found in
the Gulf of Mannar, making it the single richest coastal
area in the Indian subcontinent in terms of fish dive rsity."
Kurusadai Island, a biologist’s paradise, harb ours
representatives of every animal phylum known (except
amp hibians).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
In this study on Macrobenthos were conducted
between October 2006 and September 2007, two islands
and two backwater systems were investigated in and
around Gulf of Mannar, India for an academic year.
(Fig. 1) During this period grab samples co llected in
Corresponding Author: B. Kaja Magdoom, CAS in Marine Biology, Annamalai University, Porto novo, Tamilnadu,
India
53
Curr. Res. J. Biol. Sci., 2(1): 53-58, 2010
Table 1: Season wise distribution of Benthic Macrofauna in Backwaters and Islands
Nam e of Species
Shingle Island
Pamban B ackwater
--------------------------------------------------------------------------Post-m Sum Pre-m
Mon
Post-m
Sum Pre-m
Mon
Polychaetes
Nephtys sp.
T
T
x
T
T
T
T
T
Pista sp.
T
T
T
x
x
T
T
T
Chaetopterus sp.
x
x
T
x
T
T
T
T
Prionospio sp.
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
Cap itella cap itata
T
T
T
T
T
T
x
x
Amp harete sp.
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
Melinnopsis sp.
T
T
x
T
T
T
T
T
Perineries cultrifera
T
T
T
T
x
T
T
T
Cos sura c oasta x
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
Glycera alba
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
Poly dora ciliata
T
T
T
x
T
T
T
T
Bivalves
M eretrix m eretrix
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
M . casta
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
Anadara gran osa
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
Cardium setosum
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
x
Arca sp.
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
Gastrop od s
Umbonium vestiarium T
T
T
T
T
T
x
T
Natica sp.
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
Tur ritella atten uata
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
Cerith edia c ingula ta
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
x
Littorina scabra
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
C ru stacean s
Amp hithoe sp.
T
T
T
T
T
x
T
T
Grandidierella sp.
T
T
x
T
T
x
T
T
Urothoe sp.
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
Cheiriphotes sp.
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
Pontharpinia sp.
T
T
T
T
T
x
T
T
Isopods
T
T
x
x
T
x
T
x
Penaeid Shrimp larvae T
T
T
T
x
x
x
x
Grand total
26
27
24
24
25
23
25
23
Sym bol de notes: T - Spe cies pre sent, x- S pecies a bsen t.
Kurusadai Island
----------------------------------Post-m Sum
Pre-m Mon
Ramesw aram backwater
--------------------------------------Post-m Sum
Pre-m
Mon
T
T
x
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
x
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
x
x
T
T
T
T
T
x
T
T
T
T
x
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
x
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
x
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
x
T
T
x
T
x
T
T
T
T
x
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
x
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
x
T
T
T
T
T
26
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
27
T
x
T
T
T
T
T
25
T
T
T
T
T
x
T
24
T
T
T
T
x
T
x
25
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
27
T
x
T
T
T
T
T
25
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
26
(Atago, Japan) and digital pH Pe n (Eutech, Malay sia).
Temperature of overlying water and sediment were also
recorded. W ater and Sediment sam ples were collected
separately for Nutrient analysis were performed as per
APHA (1989). The obtained biological data w ere
analyzed using statistical applications.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The results of total Benthic Macrofauna of backwater
and Islands from G ulf o f M annar region s reveals that,
Polychaetes including Nephtys sp., Pista sp.,
Chaetopterus sp., Prionospio sp., Capitella capitata,
Ampharete sp., Melinnopsis sp., Perineries cultrifera,
Cossura coasta, Glycera alba and Polydora ciliata.
Bivalves including Me retrix meretrix, M. casta, Anadara
granosa, and Cardium setosum. Gastropods including
Umbonium vestiarium, Natica sp., Littorina scabra,
Ce rithed ia cingu lata and Turr itella atten uata ,
Crustaceans including Penaeid sp. (shrimp larvae),
amphipods such as Grandidierella sp., Cheiriphotes sp.,
Urothoe sp., Amphithoe sp., and Pontharpinia sp.,
Isopods were also recorded from the study areas. The area
and season wise percentage composition and distribution
of macro benthos were plotted in the Table 1. The
adeq uate conservation of biological diversity requires
accu rate identification, and knowledge of species’
distributions, abundances, and ecology (Dayton, 200 3).
The sediment-inhabiting macrofauna were the major
Fig. 1: Study area map showing sampling locations
the year round sampling, which categorizes four seasons.
Samples were sieved by 0.5 mm. sized sieves for
macrobenthos, they were analyze d under the compound
microscope (Olympu s CH 20i), taxonomic identifications
with the classical works of Day (1969). Salinity and pH
measured in the field itself using hand held Refractometer
54
Curr. Res. J. Biol. Sci., 2(1): 53-58, 2010
Table 2: Season wise Water Nutrients of Shingle Island
Seaso ns/Para meters
NO2
NO3
NH4
Post monsoon
0.429
2.168
0.140
Summer
0.214
3.061
0.052
Pre monsoon
0.390
2.945
0.062
Monsoon
0.253
3.252
0.057
TN
20.245
22.028
20.043
21.019
IP
0.100
0.500
0.167
0.332
TP
0.602
1.376
1.075
0.946
SiO 3
16.638
17.038
19.239
20.997
DO
4.5
4.3
4.2
4.7
BOD
1.29
0.81
0.64
0.64
COD
14 .4
4.8
4.0
5.6
C l2
18 04 6.4
17 95 3.5
17 48 6.3
18 01 5.6
SO 4
1773.679
1769.200
1887.393
1887.182
Tab le 3: Sea son w ise W ater Nu trients of Pa mba n bac kw aters
Seaso ns/Para meters
NO2
NO3
NH4
TN
Post monsoon
0.468
3.536
0.168
20.649
Summer
0.214
3.211
0.062
23.440
Pre monsoon
0.292
3.047
0.042
21.691
Monsoon
0.351
3.088
0.021
22.667
IP
0.592
0.633
0.699
0.433
TP
1.806
1.817
1.075
0.903
SiO 3
18.492
19.838
19.612
16.424
DO
4.3
4.2
4.4
4.9
BOD
1.61
0.64
0.64
0.16
COD
27 .2
3.2
6.4
4.8
C l2
18 04 5.6
17 49 4.5
18 05 0.5
17 95 6.4
SO 4
1716.514
1823.011
1742.755
1905.651
Table 4: Season wise Water Nutrients of Kurusadai Island
Seaso ns/Para meters
NO2
NO3
NH4
TN
Post monsoon
0.409
1.943
0.073
21.321
Summer
0.242
3.027
0.031
19.640
Pre monsoon
0.409
2.127
0.036
20.413
Monsoon
0.466
2.896
0.065
21.146
IP
0.233
0.200
0.233
0.469
TP
0.741
1.032
0.903
1.963
SiO 3
19.304
19.211
18.905
18.215
DO
4.3
4.4
4.2
4.7
BOD
2.42
0.16
0.48
0.98
COD
14 .4
1.6
6.4
11 .2
C l2
17 89 9.4
17 54 8.1
17 35 9.8
18 04 6.3
SO 4
1974.094
1951.565
1741.692
1764.056
Tab le 5: Sea son w ise W ater Nu trients of R ama
Seaso ns/Para meters
NO2
NO3
Post monsoon
0.429
3.640
Summer
0.370
3.701
Pre monsoon
0.448
2.331
Monsoon
0.234
3.497
IP
0.200
0.433
0.366
0.233
TP
1.118
0.946
1.075
1.430
SiO 3
18.641
20.825
18.212
20.354
DO
4.4
4.2
4.4
4.7
BOD
0.81
1.29
1.29
0.32
COD
19 .2
1.6
1.6
8.0
C l2
18 04 5.6
17 95 5.6
18 04 6.9
17 55 9.6
SO 4
1606.282
1787.606
1948.341
1867.024
fe et back waters
NH4
TN
0.052
21.052
0.031
19.875
0.062
20.077
0.057
20.750
Table 6: Season wise Sediment total organic carbon and total phosphorous Observed during the study
Shingle Island
Pam ban b ackw aters
Kurusadai Island
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Seaso ns/Para meters T O C
TP
TOC
TP
TOC
TP
Post monsoon
1.190
1.656
4.564
2.014
1.656
3.450
Summer
0.870
1.725
3.899
2.106
2.595
3.795
Pre monsoon
2.707
3.381
4.215
2.169
1.517
0.621
Monsoon
1.113
2.867
4.066
2.020
1.668
1.006
Table 7: Season wise Confidence level for Mean (95%) of Benthic Macrofauna in various study locations
95% Confidence level for Mean
PO ST-M
SUMMER
PR E-M
Shingle Island Macrobenthos
2.066079539
2.313653899
1.906845686
Pamban Backwater Macrobenthos
2.273292583
1.882300139
2.045219502
Kurusadai Island Macrobenthos
1.432844395
2.177661668
1.683527005
Rama feet Backwater Macrobenthos
1.260822075
1.29478745
1.397972386
component of the benthic ecosystem. Benthic faunal
structure was increased due to recent organic loads, and
has been made to relating standing stocks with various
environmental factors studied water nutrients such as
NO 2 , NO 3 , NH3 , IP, TP, S iO 3 , TN, Cl2 , SO 4 , sediment
TOC and T P were no rmally distributed (Table 2-6 ) in all
the stations. The flux of organic matter from surface
productivity to the sea floor has been proven to exert
considerable control on benthic standing stocks
(Soltw edel, 2000). The objective of this paper to provide
current information focusing on the abundance of
macrofauna was Polychaetes, bivalves, gastropods and the
crustaceans. The results clearly showed that areas with
increased organic matter, human disturbances such as
recreational boating and waves hitting were the factors
con trolling the distrib ution p attern a mon g the
macrobenthos. The richer communities were generally
found in areas with increased productivity and enhanced
input of orga nic matter to the shore, (Hearld and Odum,
1970; Sunilkumar and Antony, 1994). The density and
Ram a feet bac kw aters
------------------------------TOC
TP
2.158
1.189
2.654
1.324
3.742
1.449
3.242
2.346
MONSOON
1.659696136
1.647940313
1.218430761
1.122456641
diversity of benthos were changed due to causes of
pollution and physico-chemical parameters (Oomachan
and Belsare, 1985). Meiofaunal resources are based on
influence of the food mate rials and recycle of organic
maters (Mc Intyre, 1964; Tenore et al., 1977 ).
The ABC plot approaches (Fig. 3) sigma shaped
curves representing all the sampling stations were free
from pollution and also representing the healthier
environm ent. The ABC approach is highly recommended
by W arwick (19 86), w ho stated that in 22 cases of
comparison between species biomass and number curves,
only one case has given a false impression of the pollution
status of the benthic community. Warwick et al. (1987)
suggested that the abundance/ biomass comparison is a
suitably abbreviated descriptor of the state of pollution
and its effect on marine macrobenthos. The following
descending order wise percentage distributions of macro
benthos were notified in all the study areas. The actual
season wise percentages of macrobenthos were seen in the
Fig. 2a-d.
55
Curr. Res. J. Biol. Sci., 2(1): 53-58, 2010
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Fig. 2: Showing percentage distribution of macrobenthos from Shingle Island, Pamban backwater, Kurusadai Island and
Rameshwaram backwater
Fig. 3: Showing the ABC Plot (k-dominance curve) for the Benthic Macrofauna sampled
56
Curr. Res. J. Biol. Sci., 2(1): 53-58, 2010
Tab le 8: Th e B ray-c urtis sim ilarity m easu re, Sp ecies dive rsity (H ’), Pielou’s Evenness (J) and species richness (d), S-number of species, N-the total
num ber o f ind ividu als in a sam ple
Sam ple
S
N
d
J'
H'(log10)
1-Lambda'
S1
17
45
4.203
0.9623
1.1840
0.9505
S2
17
51
4.069
0.9529
1.1730
0.9435
S3
15
55
3.494
0.9375
1.1030
0.9293
S4
15
52
3.543
0.9607
1.1300
0.9382
S5
12
60
2.687
0.9750
1.0520
0.9220
S6
14
45
3.415
0.9744
1.1170
0.9384
S7
13
46
3.134
0.9411
1.0480
0.9217
S8
13
52
3.037
0.9550
1.0640
0.9201
S9
15
55
3.494
0.9349
1.1000
0.9259
S10
13
53
3.022
0.9718
1.0820
0.9289
S11
14
58
3.202
0.9691
1.1110
0.9341
S12
11
49
2.569
0.9152
0.9531
0.8886
S13
11
42
2.675
0.9329
0.9715
0.9036
S14
11
53
2.519
0.9485
0.9878
0.9057
S15
19
61
4.379
0.9432
1.2060
0.9448
S16
15
60
3.419
0.9178
1.0790
0.9192
S17
12
64
2.645
0.8047
0.8685
0.8343
S18
15
69
3.306
0.9026
1.0620
0.9049
S19
17
78
3.672
0.8639
1.0630
0.8971
S20
14
68
3.081
0.8841
1.0130
0.8973
S21
12
60
2.687
0.9204
0.9933
0.9011
S22
19
55
4.492
0.9340
1.1940
0.9421
S23
16
60
3.664
0.9278
1.1170
0.9243
S24
13
61
2.919
0.9271
1.0330
0.9077
S25
16
75
3.474
0.8810
1.0610
0.9056
Shingle Island:
Pam ban Bac kwater:
Kurusad ai Island :
Rameshwaram
backw ater:
B i v a l v es
>
P o l y c h ae t e s >
Gastropo ds > Crustacea ns.
G a s t ro p o d s
> Bivalves >
Crustacea ns > Polychae tes.
P o l y c h a e te s
> B i v a l v es >
Gastropo ds > Crustacea ns.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author thanks to the UGC-University g rants
commission for providing fund and the authorities of
Annam alai University for necessary facilities.
REFERENCES
Polychaetes > Bivalves
Gastropods > C rustaceans.
>
APHA, 1989. Standard Methods for Analysis of Water
and W aste W ater. American P ublic H ealth
Association, 17th Edn. Washington, D.C.
Bray, J.R. and J.T. Curtis, 1957. An ordination of the
upland forest communities of Southern Wisconsin.
Ecol. Monogr., 27: 325-349.
Day, J.H., 1969. A monograph on the Polychaeta of
Southern Africa. Trustees of the BritishMuseum
(Natural history) London, pp: 459-842.
Dayton, P.K., 2003. The importance of the natural
sciences to conservation. Am. Nat., 162: 1-13.
Deepak, S.V. and J. Patterson, 2004. Reef associated
molluscs of Gulf of M annarM arine Biosp here
Reserve, Southeast coast of India - D iversity, T hreats
And Management Practices, Paper Presented in the
10th International Coral Reef Symposium, Okinawa,
Japan.
Durairaj, K., 1998. Economic and ecological diversity of
marine fish resources. In: Biodiversity of Gulf of
M annar Marine Biosphere Reserve. Proceedings of
the Technical Workshopheld at Chennai. pp:
129-149.
Global Environment Facility, 1999. Conservation and
Sustainable Use of the Gulf of Mannar Biosph ere
Reserve's Coastal B iodiversity, Project Documen t,
GEF Project ID 634, GEF Secretariat, Washington.
According to the maximum levels of dissolved
oxygen were recorded between 4.7 and 4.9 mg/l. all the
maximum levels recorded during the monso on season in
all stations due to the heavy rainfall. The biochemical
oxygen dem and is highe r in post mon soon seaso n in all
the stations were between 0.81 and 2.42 mg/l. due to the
consumption of oxygen by microbial syntheses, where as
in the case of chemical oxygen demand between 14.4 and
27.2 during the post mon soon due to the organic
syntheses of materials in to inorganic compounds. 95%
Confidence level for mean (Table 7) of macrofauna and
species diversity (H’) was measured by the ShannonW eaver (1966) inform ation function. Evenness (J) was
calculated after Pielou (1966) and species richness (d)
was estimated by the function S-1/In N 2 where S is the
number of species an d N the total numb er of individuals
in a sample. The Bray and Curtis (1957) similarity
measu re was used to produce the similarity matrix and the
similarity percentage was used to determine the degree of
similarity of the assem blages between the stations were
tabulated (Table 8) revealed positive results; shows the
healthier environment and also all the study locations
were free from pollution.
57
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