ABUNDANCE AND DIVERSITY OF MACROFAUNA FROM SELECTED INTERTIDAL HABITATS OF SOUTH WEST COAST OF INDIA Thesis submitted to Cochin University of Science and Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Marine Biology Under the Faculty of Marine Sciences by ANU PAVITHRAN V Reg. No:3597 Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry School of Marine Sciences Cochin University of Science and Technology Kochi – 682016 May 2015 Abundance and Diversity of Macrofauna from Selected Intertidal Habitats of South West Coast of India Ph.D. Thesis under the Faculty of Marine Sciences By Anu Pavithran V. Research Scholar (Part Time) Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry School of Marine Sciences Cochin University of Science and Technology Kochi - 682016 Email: [email protected] Supervising Guide Dr. S. Bijoy Nandan Associate Professor School of Marine Sciences Cochin University of Science and Technology Kochi - 682016 Email: [email protected] Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry School of Marine Sciences Cochin University of Science and Technology Kochi - 682016 May 2015 Department off Mariine Biiollogy,, Miicrobiiollogy and Biiochemiistry Schooll off Mariine Sciiences Cochiin Uniiversiity off Sciience and Technollogy Kochi – 682016 Dr. S. Bijoy Nandan Associate Professor This is to certify that the thesis entitled “Abundance and Diversity of Macrofauna from Selected Intertidal habitats of South West Coast of India” is an authentic record of the research work carried out by Ms. Anu Pavithran V. under my supervision and guidance at the Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi-682016, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Ph.D degree of Cochin University of Science and Technology and no part of this has been presented before for any degree in any university. Kochi – 682016 Dr. S Bijoy Nandan May – 2015 (Supervising Guide) I hereby declare that the thesis entitled “Abundance and Diversity of Macrofauna from Selected Intertidal habitats of South West Coast of India” is an authentic record of research work done by me under the supervision of Dr. S. Bijoy Nandan, Associate Professor, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology and no part of this has been presented for any other degree or diploma earlier. Kochi – 682016 Anu Pavithran V. May – 2015 In Loving Memory of My Uncle Dedicated to, my Ammus I am really grateful to my institution, CUSAT to furnish me an opportunity to accomplish the PhD and permit me to fulfill the long cherished dream. I would like to express my sincere thanks to my professor, Dr. S. Bijoy Nandan, Associate Professor, Dept: Marine Biology, Microbiology & Biochemistry, School of marine Science, CUSAT for his supervision and inspiration. The endurance and compassion he has showed towards me in my whole PhD work, is really venerable. His encouragement, suggestions, criticism, and immense knowledge provided me the strength to move forward and to compete the world. I am really indebted to my professor and thanking him for his admirable help. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Dr. Rosamma Philip, Head of the Department, Dept. Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry for providing necessary facilities and constant support. I would like to extent my sincere gratitude to Dr Babu Philip, Dr A.V. Saramma, Dr. Aneykuty Joseph, Dr. A.A. Mohamed Hatha for their support and valuable suggestions during my PhD work. I am indebted to Dr. Rasheed, former faculty in Department of Physical oceanography for his valuable suggestions to improve the oceanography part of my research work. I am greatly thankful to him for gave me the idea about beach profiles and beach characteristics and the importance of those in my study. I am grateful to Dr. Santhosh, Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Oceanography for his help and support. The suggestions by Dr. Biju, Dept. Geology and Geophysics to improve the geological part of my work was really commendable. I am really thankful to Mr. Joseph (Technical Assistant), CMFRI, for helped me in identification of molluscs and for his valuable commends. I am thankful to the Librarian, CMFRI library for providing me necessary facilities. I am grateful to Dr. Sherly Williams, faculty, Dept. Zoology, Fathima Matha College, Kollam for her valuable advice. The help and support of administrative staff, Dept. Marine biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry was remarkable and highly creditable. Special thanks to Mr. Stephen, Mr. Prasad and Mr. Suresh for their immense support and help during my field work and made the tedious work easy. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. P. J. Manuel, Librarian and staff members for their kind cooperation and support. I am grateful to my seniors Mr. Naveen sathyan, Mr.Anil Kumar, Mrs. Gini Anil, Dr. Smitha C.K., Dr. Prabhakaran, Mr. Shyam, Dr. Swapna P. Antony, Dr. Sini, Dr. Anupama, Dr.Bindya for their kind cooperation and support. The encouragement from them will be cherished throughout my career. Special thanks to my dear friends Ms. Sreedevi, O K., Mrs. Asha, Mrs. Sumi Liz Jose, Ms. Debhora, Mrs. Vineetha, Mrs. Geetha, Mrs. Thasneem, Mrs. Rakhi, Mrs. Honey, Mrs. Preethi, Ms. Rani, Ms. Santu, Mrs. Radhika, Ms. Vineetha, Mrs. Neelima, Mrs. Sajitha, Mr. Akhilesh, Mr. Jayachandran, Mr. Susan and all other wet lab and Microbiology lab friends. I am gratified to my M.sc classmates that the support and encouragement they offered me throughout my PhD work was really precious. The support and help from my dearest friends Jimly Jacob, Ramya, K.D and Chaithanya were really worthy and they were there for me in every difficult situation. I am really thankful to them from the bottom of my heart. I received most valuable support from my family and without their support I could not even complete my PhD. My mother and father were with me in every crisis and they helped me a lot in my sampling too. I am grateful to the Almighty for having most wonderful parents in the world. I am grateful to my sister and brother in law for their encouragement and support. Their constant support and strong suggestions helped me a lot to improve the writing part and attitude towards my career. My husband is my strength and courage. His care and support made it easy for me to finish the writing and his encouraging words always inspired me up. The consideration and importance he has given to me and to my career is really worthy. My daughter is my everything and her cute little face always keeps me cheered up. I am grateful to my in laws and special thanks to Jayasree aunty, Ashi and Pitchi for their help and support. Above all I thank god for the blessings showered upon me during my research work….. Anu Pavithran V. Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................01 - 14 1.1 Background ................................................................................... 01 1.2 The Littoral zone – An overview ................................................... 02 1.3 Types of sea shores ....................................................................... 05 1.4 The zones of the sea shore ............................................................. 07 1.5 Intertidal macrofaunal community ................................................. 09 1.6 Scope of the study ......................................................................... 10 1.7 Objective of the Research Programme ........................................... 11 References ............................................................................................. 12 Chapter 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE ...............................................................................15 - 37 2.1 General review of intertidal ecology .............................................. 15 2.2 A brief review on intertidal macrofauna ........................................ 20 2.3 A focus on intertidal faunal studies; Indian scenario ...................... 22 References ............................................................................................. 25 Chapter 3 MATERIALS AND METHODS .........................................................................39 - 57 3.1 Introduction................................................................................... 39 3.2 Study Area .................................................................................... 40 3.3 Methodology ................................................................................. 45 3.4 Hydrography ................................................................................ 47 3.5 Sediment analysis .......................................................................... 48 3.6 Statistical analysis ......................................................................... 49 3.7 Univariate Analysis ....................................................................... 50 3.7.1 Diversity indices........................................................................... 50 3.8 Multivariate analysis ..................................................................... 51 3.9 Biotic indices ................................................................................ 53 3.9.1 AMBI (AZTI’s Marine Biotic Index) ........................................... 53 3.9.2 BOPA index (Benthic Opportunistic Polychaete Amphipod ratio)