Macro and meiofaunal abundance in six sandy beaches of Lakshadweep islands

The macro and meiofauna of 6 beaches of the Laccadive Islands were investigated quantitatively. Of the 8 macrofaunal taxa recorded, polychaetes and crustaceans made up the bulk of the population and biomass on all beaches. Total macrofaunal density varied from 71 to 3157 m super (-2) and biomass fro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Indian journal of marine sciences 1990, Vol.19 (3), p.159-164
Main Authors: ANSARI, Z. A, PRITA RAMANI, RIVONKER, C. U, PARULEKAR, A. H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Brackish
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Sea water ecosystems
Synecology
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Summary:The macro and meiofauna of 6 beaches of the Laccadive Islands were investigated quantitatively. Of the 8 macrofaunal taxa recorded, polychaetes and crustaceans made up the bulk of the population and biomass on all beaches. Total macrofaunal density varied from 71 to 3157 m super (-2) and biomass from 5.22 to 325.1 g.m super (-2). High meiofaunal density (2620-6555. 10 cm super (-2)) was recorded at most of the beaches and these were made up mainly of nematodes (46.7%) and benthic copepods (23.7%). On all beaches the meiofauna tended to be concentrated at those tide levels where no high degree of desiccation of the sand occurred. Macrofauna and meiofauna biomass were extrapolated to 1 m transect of beach giving macrofaunal values of 26.12 to 975 g. (1 m transect) super (-1) and meiofaunal values of 195.7 to 794.5 g. (1 m transect) super (-1) Based on biomass, meiofauna contributed more than 50% to the total production on all the beaches. The macrofaunal/meiofauna ratio gave low values indicating the dominance of meiofauna on all beaches.
ISSN:0379-5136
0975-1033