Baseline patterns of structural and functional diversity of benthic amphipods in the western Arabian Gulf

Seerangan Manokaran*, Thadickal V. Joydas, Mohammad A. Qurban, Linoy L. Cheruvathur, Thomas J. Kariyathil, Abdullajid U. Basali, Syed Ajmal Khan, Abdulaziz Al-Suwailem

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

This work presents the structural and functional traits of benthic amphipods in the Saudi waters of the Arabian Gulf. Sixty-two species belonging to 37 genera and 17 families were recorded. Sensitive species such as Grandidierella bonnieroides, G. exilis, Gammaropsis atlantica and Caprellidea indet., were mostly dominant. The average values of richness, density and diversity (H′ log2) were 11 ± 1, 512 ± 232 ind. m-2 and 3.1 ± 0.1 respectively. The density decreased with increased in depth (nearshore (NS) - 784 ± 445 and offshore (OS) - 222 ± 28, p = 0.023), while evenness (NS – 0.93 and OS -0.94) and diversity (NS – 3.10 and OS - 3.18) were unaffected by depth. Interstitial space dwellers (56.76%) and surface deposit feeders (60.16%) were dominant in the nearshore sand substratum. However, domicolous (72.2%) with suspension and surface deposit feeders (71.7%) were more in offshore silt sediments. The combination of depth, pH and TPH (p = 0.249) influenced the distribution of amphipods.

Original languageEnglish
Article number112054
JournalMarine Pollution Bulletin
Volume164
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

  • Amphipod
  • Arabian Gulf
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Sediment habitat
  • Structural and functional diversity

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Oceanography
  • Aquatic Science
  • Pollution

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