The Investigation of presence of fish parasite Gnathia sp. (Crustacea: Isopoda: Gnathiidae) in mangrove of Mel-e-Gonzeh in Bushehr province

Abstract

In this research the presence of Gnathia sp. species and its ecological structure in coastal mangrove Mel-e-Gonzeh at conserved area of Mond in Bushehr province was investigated using methods for studying benthoses. For this purpose, three stations with three tidal levels were selected in coastal mangrove and sampling was carried out in four seasons using quadrat method. The density of species was 88 ind/m2 in station 3 (low tide), exclusively on tidal pools formed by the coastal microcliffs in autumn. Among them, 44% of individuals were Zuphea larvae, 41% were Praniza larvae,10% were adult males and 5% belonged to female. Station 3 was formed with 28.58% silt and 54.36% sand and showed the highest amount of organic carbon with 0.54% among all the stations and seasons. This research showed that sediment structure of these small local habitats are influenced by seasonal variations that can change the distribution of this organism.

Keywords

• benthos
• macrofauna
• mangrove
• tahmadun island