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Meiobenthos assemblages in the mekong estuarine system with special focus on free-living marine nematodes

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Abstract

Meiobenthos assemblages in eight estuaries of the Mekong river system were investigated in August 2008 (from the Cua Tieu estuary to the Tran De estuary). In each estuary, one sampling station was established for meiobenthos sampling. Twelve major taxa of meiobenthos were recorded in this estuarine system, including Nematoda, Copepoda, Turbellaria, Polychaeta, Oligochaeta, Tardigrada, Bivalvia, Ostracoda, Amphipoda, Cumacea, Gastrotricha, Gastropoda, and Crustacean Nauplii larvae. The densities of the meiobenthos range from 581 to 3168 inds/10 cm2. Nematodes always occupy the highest numbers with a percentage ranging from 64–99%. There are 135 nematode genera recorded in this study with the following as dominant genera Desmodora, Leptolaimus, Halalaimus, Thalassomonhystera, Theristus, Daptonema, Rhynchonema, Parodontophora, and Oncholaimus. Although the biodiversity of the meiobenthos at higher taxa level is not high compared to other marine environments, the estimates of nematode biodiversity at the genus level indicates high values. The increase in number of genera with increasing sampling intensity illustrate that the diversity is underestimated and would have been higher if the authors had considered a larger number of individuals, more replicates per station, and more sampling stations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Management and Technology, Institute of Tropical Biology, 85 Tran Quoc Toan, Dist.3, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

    Ngo Xuan Quang

  2. Marine Biology Section, Biology Department, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, S8, B-9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Ngo Xuan Quang & Ann Vanreusel

  3. Postgraduate International Nematology Course, Vakgroep Biologie, Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000, Gent, Belgium

    Nic Smol

  4. Department of Nematology, Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Nguyen Ngoc Chau

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  1. Ngo Xuan Quang
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  2. Ann Vanreusel
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  3. Nic Smol
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  4. Nguyen Ngoc Chau
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Correspondence to Ngo Xuan Quang.

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Quang, N.X., Vanreusel, A., Smol, N. et al. Meiobenthos assemblages in the mekong estuarine system with special focus on free-living marine nematodes. Ocean Sci. J. 45, 213–224 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12601-010-0020-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12601-010-0020-5

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