Temporal Changes in the Abundance of Macrobenthos in the South China Sea, Area I: Gulf of Thailand and East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia

Abstract

The ecology of macrobenthic fauna in the Gulf of Thailand and the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia was studied for two periods of time at pre NE monsoon ( 4 Sep.- 4 Oct. 1995 ) and post NE monsoon ( 23 Apr. -23 May, 1996). It was found that the overall abundance of macrobenthic fauna presented the highest density at station 52 ( 920 ind. m^-2 ). Polychaete was the dominant group in the benthic communities. The result of the survey of the ecology of benthic fauna shows that the fauna density increases with a decreasing water depth. Polychaete, Crustacea and Echinoderm groups displayed a marked change in density with the during period of the monsoon and the diversity index showed different patterns during the pre and post NE monsoon periods.