Identification, abundance and biomass of benthic communities in south east coasts of the Caspian Sea (Golestan Province)

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Abstract

The frequency and distribution of benthic species in the south east coast of Caspian Sea (proposed
site for cage and pen culture) were studied. Sampling was carried out in 2 water depths (1, 5) meters
and 12 stations were sampled in each depth using VanVeen sampler. Totally, 11 taxa were identified:
Pyrgulidae,Ampharetidae, Neritidae, Nereidae, Cardidae, Gammaridae, Naididae, Balanidae,
Foraminifera, Ostracoda and Cumaceae. The most abundant taxa were Gastropoda (66.36%),
Foraminifera (15.66%), Polychaeta (14.09%) and Bivalvia (1.65%) respectively. The maximum and
minimum biomass was 164.1 g/m in summer and 6.56 g/m in spring. Depth, substratum, season,
season-depth interaction, season- substratum –depth interaction had significant effects on biomass and
had no significant effect on abundance.

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