 |
ZooKeys 31 (2009) : Special issue: 17-38
Animal Biodiversity in the Middle East. Proceedings of the First Middle Eastern Biodiversity Congress, Aqaba, Jordan, 20–23 October 2008
|
| Winter species composition, diversity and abundance of macrozoobenthos in Kuwait’s waters, Arabian Gulf |
Faiza Al-Yamani, Natalya Boltachova, Nikolai Revkov, Mikhail Makarov, Vladimir Grintsov, Elena Kolesnikova, Galyna-Vantsetti Murina |
|
|
doi: 10.3897/zookeys.31.74
Published: 28.12.2009
Viewed by: 1138
| Abstract
The paper describes the structure of macrozoobenthos inhabiting Kuwait’s waters (northwestern Arabian Gulf). Material for the study was collected from 17 stations in December 2004. A total of 270 species of macrozoobenthos and representatives of higher taxonomic groups belonging to 10 phyla were recorded and identified. Species diversity was highest in polychaetes, gastropods, bivalved molluscs and crustaceans (83, 51, 52 and 38 species, respectively). Quantitative estimates of macrozoobenthos was studied in this geographic region for the first time. In the depth of 2–20 m the abundance of macrozoobenthos averaged 795 ind./m2. Polychaetes, gastropods and crustaceans prevailed in the sublittoral zone. In assessing species diversity the ecological indices of Shannon-Wiener, Simpson, Pielou and Margaleff were used. The obtained results point out that in Kuwait’s waters the diversity of macrozoobenthos is relatively high while the level of dominance is low. It was also found that in Kuwait Bay macrozoobenthos is less diverse than in other locations of the region.
Full text: PDF
|
 |
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 (CC-BY). |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
