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International Journal of Marine Science 2014, Vol.4, No.34, 1-9
http://ijms.biopublisher.ca
6
associated with
P. mutuki
reported, maximum
abundance is reported for
Turbo intercoastalis
followed by
Cerithium scabridum,
Astrea stellata,
Astrea semicostata
(Kiener, 1850)
, Lunella coronata
and
Chicoreus brunneus
(Link, 1807)
at Kodinar
(Table 1). Total 17 species belonging to 12 genera, 9
families and 2 different classes were reported under
phylum Arthopoda associated with
P. mutuki
at
Sutrapada. Out of two classes reported, class
Maxillopoda was represented by one family (Balanidae)
and one species
Amphibalanus amphitrite
. Class
Crustacea was represented by 12 species of brachyuran
crabs and 4 species of anomuran crabs. Maximum
brachyuran crab species associated with
P. mutuki
belonged to families Xanthidae (6 species) and
Portunidae (2 species) while in case of anomuran crab
both family Diogenidae and Porcellanidae contributed
2 species each. Genera like
Atergatis
(3 species),
Charbdis
(2 species),
Clibanarious
(2 species) and
Petrolisthes
(2 species) contributed more species while
other genera contributed single species each. Out of 17
species of arthropods associated with
P. mutuki
reported, maximum abundance is reported for
Amphibalanus amphitrite
followed by
Atergatis
floridus
,
Pilumnus vespertilio
and
Clibanarious zebra
(Table 1).
The results of the diversity indices calculated on the
entire dataset are given in Table 2. The highest species
richness and abundance is observed at Sutrapada
followed by Kodinar, Dhamlej and Veraval. The values
of the Shannon Diversity Index (log 2) was higher in
Sutrapda (3.534) followed by Kodinar (3.523),
Dhamlej (3.411) and Veraval (2.932). The Margalef
Species Richness Index showed higher values at
Sutrapda (9.920) followed by Kodinar (8.926),
Dhamlej (7.938) and Veraval (5.689), while the
Evenness Index values were higher for Kodinar (0.735)
followed by Dhamlej (0.721), Sutrapada (0.646) and
Veraval (0.605).
Table 2 Diversity indices for the associated macrofaunal communities of
Palythoa mutuki
in the four study sites
Veraval
Sutrapada
Dhamlej
Kodinar
Taxa_S
31
53
42
47
Individuals
195
189
175
173
Shannon_H
2.932
3.534
3.411
3.523
Evenness_e^H/S
0.605
0.646
0.721
0.735
Margalef
5.689
9.920
7.938
8.926
Bray- Curtis Similarity Index is calculated to know the
similarity in terms of species diversity between the
study sites. The dendrogram (Figure 3) shows three
Figure 3 Dendrogram of the macro faunal associates to
Palythoa mutuki
recorded in the four study sites
different groups. Sutrapada and Kodinar are grouped
together with a maximum similarity of 70%; these are
clustered with Dhamlej and linked with 63% of
similarity. Veraval forms a third and separate group
which is joined with the other two groups with a 57%
similarity. The same pattern was also put in evidence
by the PCA (Figure 4) and MDS plot (Figure 5) graphs,
where study sites like Sutrapda and Kodinar showing
maximum similarity in species composition forms a
single cluster.
2 Discussion
Zoanthid species belonging to the genus
Palythoa
have the specific ability to trap the sediment floating
with the sea current which is then incorporated in the
polyps wall (Reimer et al., 2006). The sediment load
is very high in the coastal waters off Saurashtra
probably triggering the extensive presence of
Palythoa
mutuki
in the four study sites (Trivedi and Vachhrajani,
2014). In the present study, a total of 67 species of