Winter species composition, diversity and abundance of macrozoobenthos in Kuwait’s waters, Arabian Gulf

By

Al-Yamani, Faiza
Boltachova, Natalya
Revkov, Nikolai
Makarov, Mikhail
Grintsov, Vladimir
Kolesnikova, Elena
Murina, Galyna-Vantsetti

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2009

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

31

Pages

17-38

Subjects

littoral and sublittoral zones , macrozoobenthos

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.31.74

 

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.