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Meiobenthic assemblage of the grey mangrove (Avicennia marina) along the Saudi Arabian coast of the Red Sea with emphasis on free-living nematodes

Abdulmohsin Al-Sofyani
Abdulmohsin Al-Sofyani
 and 
Mohsen El-Sherbiny
Mohsen El-Sherbiny
   | Dec 03, 2018
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Article Category: Original research paper
Published Online: Dec 03, 2018
Page range: 359 - 375
Received: Dec 31, 2017
Accepted: Mar 28, 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ohs-2018-0034
© 2018 Faculty of Oceanography and Geography, University of Gdańsk, Poland
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Figure 1

Map showing the study sites along the Saudi Arabian coast of the Red Sea
Map showing the study sites along the Saudi Arabian coast of the Red Sea

Figure 2

Box and whisker plot of different meiofaunal groups (ind. 10 cm−2) along the Saudi Arabian coast of the Red Sea. The bottom and the top of the boxes are the first and third quartiles, the band inside the boxes indicates the median, while the black square inside the box indicates the mean and the end of the whiskers expresses the range of abundance.
Box and whisker plot of different meiofaunal groups (ind. 10 cm−2) along the Saudi Arabian coast of the Red Sea. The bottom and the top of the boxes are the first and third quartiles, the band inside the boxes indicates the median, while the black square inside the box indicates the mean and the end of the whiskers expresses the range of abundance.

Figure 3

Spatial variations in abundance (ind. 10 cm−2) of: a) total meiofauna, b) nematodes, c) harpacticoid copepods, d) polychaetes, e) oligochaetes, and f) turbellarians observed at different sites along the Saudi Arabian coast of the Red Sea
Spatial variations in abundance (ind. 10 cm−2) of: a) total meiofauna, b) nematodes, c) harpacticoid copepods, d) polychaetes, e) oligochaetes, and f) turbellarians observed at different sites along the Saudi Arabian coast of the Red Sea

Figure 4

Relative abundance of each trophic status of nematodes at different study sites along the Saudi Arabian coast of the Red Sea. 1A – selective deposit feeders; 1B – non-selective deposit feeders; 2A – epigrowth feeders; 2B – predators/ omnivores
Relative abundance of each trophic status of nematodes at different study sites along the Saudi Arabian coast of the Red Sea. 1A – selective deposit feeders; 1B – non-selective deposit feeders; 2A – epigrowth feeders; 2B – predators/ omnivores

Figure 5

Principal component analysis (PCA) of normalized environmental variables and meiofaunal groups showing the main environmental gradient and relations along the surveyed sites
Principal component analysis (PCA) of normalized environmental variables and meiofaunal groups showing the main environmental gradient and relations along the surveyed sites

Figure 6

Multidimensional scaling (MDS) ordination based on the Bray-Curtis similarity indices of: A) different meiofaunal groups and B) nematodes
Multidimensional scaling (MDS) ordination based on the Bray-Curtis similarity indices of: A) different meiofaunal groups and B) nematodes

Differences in abiotic parameters of seawater (temperature – T and salinity – S) as well as sediment [pH, electrical conductivity – EC (mS cm−1); total organic carbon – TOC; and MD – mean grain size] observed at different sites along the Saudi Arabian coast of the Red Sea

Site Seawater Sediment
T (°C) S (PSU) pH EC (mS cm−1) TOC (%) MD (μm) Sediment type Sorting Index
I 28.9 38.56 8 6.9 3.5 353 medium sand poorly sorted
II 28.5 43.1 8 5.3 3 296 medium sand poorly sorted
III 31.1 40.3 7.05 22 3 356 medium sand poorly sorted
IV 27.9 38.2 7.77 6.79 1 96 very fine sand moderately sorted
V 28.9 40.1 7.6 10.26 3.7 208 fine sand poorly sorted
VI 29.4 42.9 7.91 8.09 2.9 451 medium sand poorly sorted
VII 28.7 41.5 6.75 9.95 3.3 243 fine sand poorly sorted
VIII 28.5 39.3 7.45 10.1 2.5 229 fine sand poorly sorted
IX 32.1 43.6 7.3 9.9 3 150 fine sand poorly sorted
X 32.4 40.1 7.78 7.31 3.5 441 medium sand poorly sorted
XI 29.3 43.1 7.82 10.1 1.8 156 fine sand poorly sorted
XII 28.1 41.3 7.65 10.19 2.8 366 medium sand poorly sorted
XIII 29.8 41.1 7.91 8.9 2 350 medium sand poorly sorted
XIV 31.5 41.1 8.01 2.31 1.1 747 coarse sand moderately sorted
XV 31.2 42.1 7.61 11.65 1.9 183 fine sand poorly sorted
XVI 31.1 41.1 7.95 10.19 1.9 232 fine sand moderately sorted
XVII 33.2 41.3 7.87 6.79 1.3 224 fine sand moderately sorted
XVIII 36.2 42.1 7.91 6.49 1.7 197 fine sand poorly sorted
XIX 35.1 43.5 7.85 6.8 1.6 249 fine sand poorly sorted
XX 29.2 40.8 8.08 7.76 2.5 232 fine sand poorly sorted

Total count, relative abundance (%) and feeding types of different nematode genera recorded in mangrove sediments along the Saudi Arabian coast of the Red Sea. 1A – selective deposit feeders; 1B – non-selective deposit feeders; 2A – epigrowth feeders; 2B – predators/omnivores

Order Family Genus Total count Relative abundance (%) Feeding type
Enoplida Ironidae Syringolaimus 1155 14.0 2a
Dolicholaimus 86 1.0 2b
Oxystominidae Halalaimus 1336 16.2 1a
Oncholaimidae Viscosia 85 1.0 2b
Oncholaimus 71 0.9 2b
Tripyloididae Bathylaimus 40 0.5 1b
Aegialoalaimdae Aegialoalaimus 59 0.7 1a
Chromadorida Chromadoridae Spilophorella 91 1.1 2a
Metachromadora 63 0.8 2a
Cyatholaimidae Paralongicyatholaimus 135 1.6 2a
Selachinematidae Synonochium 49 0.6 2b
Desmodoridae Desmodora 745 9.0 2a
Molgolaimus 29 0.4 2a
Spirina 447 5.4 2a
Leptolaimidae Leptolaimus 48 0.6 1a
Microlaimidae Microlaimus 1442 17.4 2a
Bolbolaimus 198 2.4 2a
Desmoscolecidae Desmosolozenia 17 0.2 1a
Haliplectidae Haliplectus 63 0.8 1a
Monhysterida Xyalidae Stylotheristus 49 0.6 1b
Theristus 196 2.4 1a
Paramonhystrea 201 2.4 1b
Daptonema 722 8.7 1b
Linhomoeidae Metalinhomoeus 90 1.1 1b
Terschellingia 849 10.3 1a

Meiofaunal abundance determined in different mangrove sediments worldwide (mean values given in parentheses)

Area/Country Densities (ind. 10 cm−2) References
Minimum–Maximum (mean)
Hunter River, south-eastern Australia 63–12057 (225) Hodda & Nicholas (1985)
Hunter River, south-eastern Australia 1–9596 (110) Hodda & Nicholas (1986)
Northeastern Australia 57–2454 Alongi (1987a,b)
Mangrove mudflats, Australia

In the top 1 cm of Av. marina sediment;

 470–5000 (1830) Nicholas et al. (1991)
Barwon estuary, Victoria, Australia 250–8622 (2170) Gwyther (2000)
Mngazana estuary, South Africa 84–530 (246) Dye (1983 a)
New Caledonia 70–5137 Della Patrona et al. (2016)
West and east coast of Zanzibar, Africa 205–5263 (1493) Ólafsson (1995)
West and east coast of Zanzibar, Africa 271–656 Ólafsson et al. (2000)
Gazi Bay, Kenya, Africa 1986–6707 Vanhove et al. (1992)
Island of Santa Catarina, South Brazil 77–1589 (448) Netto & Galucci (2003)
South Cuba 36–245 Lalana-Rueda & Gosselck (1980)
Gulf of Batabano, Cuba 5–594 (109) Armenteros et al. (2006)
West coast of Malaysia 407–1109 (700) Sasekumar (1994)
Southeast coast of India 234–890 Chinnadurai & Fernando (2007)
Northern Red Sea, Egypt (343) Pusceddu et al. (2014)
Sudanese coast of the Red Sea

Intact mangrove

 (288) Sabeel (2015)
Western side of the Red Sea, Egypt 18–193 (109) El-Serehy et al. (2015)
Saudi Arabian coast of the Red Sea 119–1380 (643) Present study

Biodiversity indices of nematodes determined for different sites along the Saudi Arabian coast of the Red Sea: the total number of genera (S), richness (D), Pielou’s evenness index (J’) and Shannon-Wiener index (H’)

Site S d J’ H’ (log)
I 2 0.27 0.95 0.66
II 1 0.00 0.00 0.00
III 1 0.00 0.00 0.00
IV 3 0.63 1.00 1.10
V 2 0.35 0.95 0.66
VI 3 0.54 1.00 1.10
VII 3 0.59 0.99 1.09
VIII 1 0.00 0.00 0.00
IX 2 0.34 0.97 0.67
X 4 0.91 0.98 1.36
XI 2 0.32 0.97 0.68
XII 10 1.96 0.98 2.26
XIII 2 0.31 0.99 0.69
XIV 3 0.55 0.98 1.08
XV 2 0.37 0.94 0.65
XVI 4 0.80 0.91 1.26
XVII 11 2.15 0.98 2.36
XVIII 10 2.00 0.98 2.25
XIX 5 1.03 0.99 1.59
XX 2 0.34 0.99 0.69

Nematode abundance (mean in parenthesis), percentage of total meiofauna, richness and dominant genera recorded in different mangrove sediments worldwide

References Area/Country Densities (ind. 10 cm−2) Minimum–Maximum (mean) % of total meiofauna Number of families Number of genera
Hodda & Nicholas (1985) Hunter River, south-eastern Australia 63–11892 87–100 23 55
Alongi (1987b) Cape York, north-east Australia 3–987 – (205 sp.)
Nicholas et al. (1991)

In the top 1 cm of Av. marina sediment

 Mangrove mudflats, Australia 113–451 – 26 38
Dye (1983a) Mngazana estuary, South Africa 62–411 80.4 – –
Vanhove et al. (1992) Gazi bay, Kenya – 54–95 – –
Ólafsson (1995) West-east coast of Zanzibar, Africa 131–5210 64-99 30 94
Ólafsson et al. (2000) West-east coast of Zanzibar, Africa 271–656 58–87 13 28
Netto & Galucci (2003) Island of Santa Catarina, South Brazil 196–811 85–94 28 86
Pinto et al. (2013) Pernambuco state, Northeastern Brazil – – 25 73
Armenteros et al. (2006) Gulf of Batabano, Cuba 5–591 (104) 33–100 (88) – –
Ali et al. (1983) Bay of Bengal, India 35–280 50–67 – –
Chinnadurai & Fernando (2007) Southeast coast of India 234–890 86–93 20 36
Bhadury et al. (2015) Central west coast of India – – 13 20
Ansari & Bhadury (2017) Sundarbans, India-Bangladesh – – 29 84
Somerfield et al. (1988) North-western coast of Malaysia (122) – 32 85
Sasekumar (1994) West coast of Malaysia 374–885 80–93 – 17
Sabeel (2015) Sudanese coast, Red Sea 10–370 40–98 20 35
El-Serehy et al. (2015) Western side of the Red Sea, Egypt 8–162 (73) 42(–6784) – –
Present study Saudi Arabian coast of the Red Sea 72–1100 29–100 15 25

Coordinates of different study sites along the Saudi Arabian coast of the Red Sea

Location Site No. Latitude N Longitude E Remarks
Jazan I 16°25’6.85” 42°45’49.08” Fringing reef
II 16°41’54.15” 42°43’1.78” Inland lagoon (dead mangrove)
III 16°43’54.71” 42°42’29.12” Inland lagoon (dead mangrove)
IV 16°47’3.69” 42°40’23.07” Fringing reef (near a sewage outlet)
V 17°3’3.16” 42°27’8.85” Fringing reef
Al-Birk VI 17°48’0.89” 41°53’21.16” Inland lagoon (fish farm outlet)
VII 17°57’9.17” 41°41’10.91” Fringing reef
VIII 18°7’11.42” 41°34’52.77” Fringing reef
IX 19°47’30.24” 40°37’52.13” Fringing reef
Al-Lith X 20°9’56.94” 40°12’50.01” Inland lagoon (fish farm outlet)
Jeddah XI 21°16’8.74” 39°7’34.40” Fringing reef (sewage plant outlet)
XII 21°58’57.73” 38°58’44.60” Inland lagoon
XIII 22°15’11.33” 39°4’50.23” Fringing reef
Rabigh XIV 22°52’50.29” 38°56’33.66” Inland lagoon
XV 22°51’3.09” 38°57’35.99” Inland lagoon
XVI 23°8’10.01” 38°47’47.27” Inland lagoon (fish farm outlet)
XVII 23°19’47.25” 38°41’37.06” Inland lagoon
Al-Wajh XVIII 5°34’39.25” 36°58’13.98” Inland lagoon
XIX 25°59’27.67” 36°42’39.29” Fringing reef
Duba XX 27°25’52.30” 35°36’9.54” Inland lagoon

Values of Pearson’s coefficient of correlation (r) indicating possible relationships between meiofaunal groups and different environmental parameters (Meio – total meiofauna; Nema – nematodes; Poly – polychaetes; Oligo – oligochaetes; Turb – turbellarians; Cope – copepods; Ostr – ostracods and Amph – amphipods)

Parameter Meio Nema Poly Oligo Turb Cope Ostr Amph
Sand (%) 0.675

Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

 0.591

Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

 0.39 0.29 0.34 0.614

Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

 0.24 0.06
VC sand −0.13 −0.11 0.03 −0.30 0.13 −0.22 −0.26 0.12
CS sand 0.32 0.24 0.26 0.00 0.39 0.37 −0.10 0.10
M sand −0.08 −0.08 −0.08 −0.09 −0.10 0.06 0.07 0.01
F sand 0.38 0.34 0.09 0.40 0.13 0.38 0.492

Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed);

 −0.17
VF sand −0.448

Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed);

 −0.35 −0.23 −0.09 −0.502

Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed);

 −0.573

Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

 −0.28 0.01
Silt-clay −0.675

Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

 −0.591

Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

 −0.39 −0.29 −0.34 −0.614

Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

 −0.24 −0.06
pH 0.39 0.33 0.31 0.32 0.35 0.12 0.16 0.13
EC −0.28 −0.29 −0.11 −0.06 −0.01 −0.25 0.02 −0.03
OC (%) −0.38 −0.39 −0.19 −0.19 −0.01 −0.23 −0.13 −0.11
Temperature 0.17 0.31 −0.10 −0.25 −0.09 0.08 0.06 −0.08
Salinity −0.02 0.03 −0.13 −0.11 −0.21 0.10 −0.02 −0.02
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