Bezerra, T.N.

Moens, T.

Negarestan, H.

Sahraeian, N.

Open Marine Archive

 - 81 -  
Year-to-year variability in beach nematode community structure and 
biodiversity in the northern part of the Persian Gulf 
Sahraeian Narjes
1
, Hossein Negarestan
2
, Tania Nara Bezerra
1
 and Tom Moens
1
 
1
 Marine Biology Section, Biology Department, Ghent University, Campus De Sterre s8, Krijgslaan 
281, 9000 Ghent, Belgium 
Email: narjes.sahrean@ugent.be 
2
 Department of Aquatic Ecology, Iranian Fisheries Research Organization, Tehran, Iran 
 
In December 2008, we performed the first study on beach nematode communities in the northern 
part of the Persian Gulf. We sampled four beach locations near Bandar Abbas, with three stations at 
50-m intervals per beach along a distance gradient from local pollution sources (mostly sewage 
outlets). A total of 39 genera belonging to 17 families were identified. There were significant 
differences in abundance and genus diversity between locations as well as between stations. 
Sediment granulometry correlated positively with genus diversity and the location exposed to the 
strongest pollution input had the lowest nematode diversity. Generally, diversity increased with 
increasing distance from a pollution point source, while abundance showed inconsistent station 
effects. In the whole study area, five genera Daptonema, Ptycholaimellus, Terschellingia, 
Promonhystera and Paramonhystera together comprised 75% of the total nematode abundance. 
One year later, we repeated this sampling to be able to assess year-to-year variability in community 
structure and diversity. Climatologically, November 2009 differed from November 2008 mostly in 
terms of precipitation, which was 2.6 times higher in 2009 than in 2008. A total of 42 genera 
belonging to 21 families were identified. Terschellingia, Ptycholaimellus, Daptonema and 
Promonhystera together comprised 80% of the total nematode abundance. In spite of the fact that 
the dominant genera were largely the same in both years, more than half of the genera recorded in 
2009 were new compared to the 2008 campaign, resulting in a total of 62 genera belonging to 24 
families recorded over the two years. In 2009, there were again significant differences in abundance 
as well as genus diversity between locations, but no longer between stations. A potential reason for 
the lack of a station effect in 2009 is that with the much higher precipitation, sewage input into the 
beaches was higher and extended further than in the previous year, thereby wiping out differences 
between stations. 


Year-to-year variability in beach nematode community structure and biodiversity in the northern part of the Persian Gulf

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