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vol-33MACROFAUNA ABUNDANCE IN SEAGRASS
OF QATARI WATERS, ARABIAN GULF
JASSIM A. AL-KHAYAT
Chemical and Earth Science Department
Marine Sciences Division, College of Science,
University of Qatar, Doha P. O. Box 2713, Qatar
[email protected]
Keywords: Sea grasses, Macrofauna, Community, Qatari, and Arabian Gulf.
ABSTRACT
The present investigation deals with a preliminary study for the Macroinvertebrates of
seagrass community in seven sites of the Qatari waters. The associated macrofauna taxa
comprising nine major taxonomic groups, showed significant differences in the total
numbers of individuals and species. Most seagrass meadows stations showed denser and
richer macrobenthic fauna in comparsion with unvegetated stations. The highest total
number of species (58 spp.) was recorded at Uraydah (St. UR3) while the lowest number of
species (17 & 18 spp.) was observed at Al Ruwais (RW1) and Ras Rackan (RR1)
respectively. The fauna was most dominated by Mollusca (36 spp.), Polychaeta (22 spp.)
and crustacean (17 spp.). The faunal diversity index ranged from 3.489 (St. UR3) to
2.131(St. RW1). The salinity ranged from 42-45‰ and the value of the pH ranged from
8.2-8.4. The concentration of chlorophyll-a biomass was low. The grain size of bottom
sediment was composed of high percentage of fine to very fine sand.
