Seasonal Abundance of Macro Benthic Composition and Diversity along the South East Coast of India

Abstract

Benthic communities are important to marine ecosystem and form important food source for most of the marine organisms especially fishes. The estimation of benthic production would serve as a useful index for assessing the fishery potentials, interaction, pollution and intertidal ecology. In the present study a survey on macrobenthic fauna was carried out in five different coastal areas. The results indicate that polychaetes are dominated followed by decapods, bivalves, gastropods, amphipods and Isopods. The maximum species diversity recorded in station 3. In station 2 minimum species recorded due to abundance of salt ponds and also salt refinery industries wastes that drained in the shore environment. So the present study conforming that pollution in the intertidal coastal area directly affecting the species diversity as well as indirectly the fishery potential.