Temporal variation in macroinvertebrates associated with intertidal sponge <i>Ircinia fusca </i>(Carter 1880) from Ratnagiri, West coast, India.

927-932Temporal variation of macrofauna associated with a marine sponge, Ircinia fusca was studied from a tropical rocky shore along the West coast of India. Triplicate sponge samples (~100 g) were collected from January to December 2010 from Bhagwati Bandar area, Ratnagiri. A total of 22 macrofaunal taxa were found to be associated with the sponge. The community was dominated (≥80%) by the juvenile ophiuroid, Ophiactis savignyi. Syllis sp., Sipuncula and Bivalvia were the other dominant taxa. Presence of O. savignyi juveniles during most of the time in the year indicates a major recruitment in March and minor recruitment during rest of the year. Present study suggest that the O. savignyi utilize the surface area of sponge as a perfect settling and recruiting ground. It infers that the sponge Ircinia fusca is used as a breeding ground by the brittle star, Ophiactis savignyi. </span

Macrobenthic community structure of coastal Arabian Sea during the Fall intermonsoon

2223-2232<span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family: " times="" new="" roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";mso-ansi-language:="" en-gb;mso-fareast-language:en-us;mso-bidi-language:hi"="" lang="EN-GB">In the Arabian Sea, organic matter produced during the upwelling period reaches the seafloor by the end of the monsoon and during the fall intermonsoon period (FIM). Studies on the benthic community is lacking during this period. Therefore, we predict that the FIM period is critical in structuring the coastal benthic community. Results indicated Coscinodiscus sp. and Thalassiosira sp. were dominant in the phytoplankton and the microphytobenthos community. Zooplankton was dominated by small sized calanoid copepods followed by larval forms of polychaete and fish. Macrofauna was dominated by the juveniles of interface feeding polychaete, Paraprionospio pinnata. The quality of food from the surface flux supported the macrofaunal community and explained the successful recruitment of dominant P. pinnata.  Therefore, species composition and dominance of juveniles among the macrofaunal community suggest that macrobenthic recruitment coincides with the timing of organic matter flux so that the benthic community benefits from the sinking detritus.</span