Meiofaunal diversity of puthuvypu beach, Vypin

Abstract

The marine environment has two major provinces viz; benthic and pelagic. Pelagic environment mainly consists of plankton and nekton, however, the benthic community consists of sessile forms. The benthic organisms are classified based on their size, as Macrofauna (>0.5mm), Meiofauna (0.5 to 0.063mm) and Microfauna (<0.063mm). The meiofauna for its small size, short life span, absence of planktonic stages, sensitive to the natural, anthropogenic, and environmental disturbance, has been identified as an important member of the benthic community ie., converting the energy from basic to higher trophic levels. Since it is sensitive to the environment, abundance and diversity of these in the environment is considered as a yardstick to measure the health.The diversity study of meiofauna of this area, using sampling techniques was done as part of my project. Various meiofaunal groups have been found which revealed the diversity of the Puthuvypu beach. The groups which I studied were ARCHIANNELDA, NEMATODA, POLYCHAETA, OLIGOCHAETA, OSTRACODA, COPEPODA, and HALACAROIDEA. Environmental factors including temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and pH of the water are estimated. The diversity of meiofaunal groups along the coastal areas of Kerala and India are reviewed. Problems affecting the diversity of meiofauna like pollution, trawling is also reviewed.