A baseline quantitative assessment of deep-sea benthic fauna of the Gulf of Aqaba (Northern Saudi Arabia, Red Sea)
| Autor: | Periyadan K. Krishnakumar, T. T. M. Ashraf, Mohammad A. Qurban, Syed Asif Hussain, Ángel Borja, Lotfi Rabaoui, K.M. Aarif, Seerangan Manokaran, K.P. Manikandan, Meerja Humayun Baig, Mohammed Shoeb, Thadickal V. Joydas |
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| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
010604 marine biology & hydrobiology Fauna Baseline (sea) Saudi Arabia 010501 environmental sciences Aquatic Science Oceanography 01 natural sciences Pollution Deep sea Mediterranean sea Benthos Habitat Benthic zone Mediterranean Sea Environmental science Species richness Indian Ocean Ecosystem 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Environmental Monitoring |
| Zdroj: | Marine pollution bulletin. 164 |
| ISSN: | 1879-3363 |
| Popis: | The Gulf of Aqaba (hereafter ‘the Gulf’) is a narrow, semi-enclosed, warm, high saline, and oligotrophic water body. This baseline study provides the first quantitative data on deep-sea (207–1281 m depth) benthos of the Gulf. Fifty-five benthic species (predominantly polychaetes) with a density of 160–670 ind. m−2, species richness of 11–25, and Shannon-Wiener diversity (H′) of 3.14–4.17 bits. ind.−1 were recorded from nine stations. The density and H′ of benthos of the Gulf are comparable with those of the Red Sea, while both are lower than those reported from the Arabian Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. The good-high ecological status of benthic communities indicates the absence of major stress in the deep-sea habitats of the Gulf. As large-scale urbanization is proposed in the Saudi coastal areas of the Gulf, this study is expected to provide a baseline dataset for future environmental impact assessments. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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