Publication Details

DIVERSITY OF POLYCHAETA (ANNELIDA) IN THE CONTINENTAL SHELF OF SOUTHERN SOUTH CHINA SEA

Polychaete is among the largest and most diverse benthic animal in many marine ecosystems. However, in Malaysia the study on diversity of polychaete from soft bottom habitats, especially at the continental shelf of southern South China Sea has not been widely explored. Therefore, this study specifically embarks to determine the diversity of polychaete (Annelida) collected from soft bottom habitats of offshore Pekan-Dungun, Kuala Terengganu and Kudat-Balambangan Island. Results from 43 sampling stations shows that 12, 477 individual of polychaetes were recorded and grouped into 47 families, 217 genera and 368 species. Family Spionidae was found to be the most dominant family contributed 17.7% from the total number of polychaetes, followed by Nephtyidae (7.5%), Paraonidae (6.3%) and Capitellidae (6.1%). The cumulative number of polychaete species was found to be parallel with the increasing number of sampling stations in which it was relatively highest at the offshore area of Pekan-Dungun (302 species, 19 stations), followed by KudatBalambangan Island (190 species, 13 stations) and Kuala Terengganu (172 species, 11 stations). In terms of species diversity and evenness indices, the mean value of diversity (3.88 to 5.65) differ significantly (p0.05) between the study areas off Pekan-Dungun, Kuala Terengganu and Kudat-Balambangan Island