Distribution and abundance of macrobenthos in Mangroves ecosystem of Kali Estuary, Karwar Karnataka

The present work was mainly focused on this typical biotope for the period of thirteen months from January 2008 to January 2009. An attempt has been made to describe the faunal composition, distribution and abundance at different study sites of mangrove ecosystem of kali estuary during the study period. In the present study, fourteen taxa have been identified and are grouped as follows. Foraminifera, Coelenterata, Polychaeta, Gastropoda, Bivalvia, Harpacticoida, Cumacea, Tanaidacea, Isopoda, Amphipoda, Mysidacea, Shrimps, Decapoda and Pisces. In macrobenthos, the polychaete (13 ? 99/m2) and bivlavia (25 ? 60 /m2) group contributed much to the total density of macrobenthic community at all study stations. Seasonally, this faunal community has shown greater density during the post and premonsoon seasons (953.9 & 1137.1/m2) but it was very less during the southwest monsoon season (850.9/m2).