Seasonality in meiofaunal distribution on a tropical beach at Balramgari, northeast coast of India

Abstract

Maximum density of meiofauna was recorded during the southwest monsoon season (June to September). The major part of the faunal group consisted of cladocerans (47%) followed by nematodes (15%) and harpacticoids (14%). None of the faunal group showed any significant difference with tide level during different seasons. Cladoceran was the only group exhibited seasonality in their abundance with the depth of the sediment. Dispersion of turbellarians, ostracods and lamellibranchs was regular; random in isopods and patchy or contagious in nematodes, harpacticoids and cladocerans. A significant correlation was observed between nematoda, turbellaria, amphipoda and cladocera with salinity, pH, chlorophyll-a and POC respectively. Mean grain size of the sediment was highly correlated with the abundance of cladocerans and harpacticoids.