Study of biodiversity, frequency and biomass of macrobenthos in the southern coastal of the Caspian Sea

Abstract

Introduction: This research was carried out based on ecological monitoring of the Caspian Sea in depth of 30 meters project during 2018-2019.
Materials & Methods: Sampling from the bed sediments of the southern Caspian Sea in 8 transects including Astara, Anzali, Sefidrood, Tonekabon, Nowshahr, Babolsar, Amirabad and Turkmen was done by a cat sampler. Sampling was done seasonally. The aim of this study was to investigate the species diversity, density and biomass and local distribution of different macrobenthos species.
Result: A total of 16 species were identified, belonging to 7 families which of Polychaeta, Crustacea and Bivalvia were found. In addition, Oligochaeta have been identified. The polychaeta comprised 59% of the total macrobenthos density. In contrast, Cerastoderma glaucum, although the frequency was 6.3% of the total density of macrobenthos, but comprised 59.9% of the total biomass. The results showed that the diversity indices had the highest value in spring and the lowest in summer. Polychaeta had the highest local distribution (100%) and Malacostraca Pterocuma sowinskyi and Cardiophila baeri had the lowest (8.2%). The lowest
and highest mean (±SE) densities were recorded in winter and spring with 408±81.1 ind.m-2 and 1225±246.2 ind.m-2, respectively.
Conclusion: In conclusion, the increase in biomass of bivalve molluscs versus the decrease in density can be due to the large size and having oyster shell and the increase in diversity indices in spring can be due to the presence of different species for reproduction after wintering period which is consistent with the density of macrobenthos in the spring.