Benthic Nacrofaunal Productivity and Diversity of the Red Sea Coast Around Tewalit (Massawa
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Date
1987-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The Di versi ty and Productivity of benthic macl'ofauna
around the shallow waters of Tewalit (Massawa) were investigated
at three stations from October 28,1986 to April
14,1987. Eight major groups and 50 taxa were encountered.
Polychaetes with 23 taxa were the most diverse group followed
by gastropods with 8 taxa, and crustaceans Hith 6 taxa.
Physical and chemical parameters show no significant
variation and regulatory effec-t over the distribution and
abundance of the taxa. The taxa indicate a high species
diversity, biomass diversity and equitability. There is
significant variation in similarity indices, but no variation
in species composition among the stations. Productivity
is estimated to be lO.16g/m2. This with mean biomass 6.9g1
m2 resulted in a turnover rate (P:B ratio) of 1.5.
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Biology