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Polychaete Assemblages in the Sungai Terengganu Estuary (East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia): Spatial Distribution Patterns

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Abstract

Urban developments in estuarine areas affect benthic organisms, notably the macrobenthos, by physically modifying the territory and generating waste. The polychaete assemblages and the environmental parameters in the estuarine area of Sungai Terengganu were examined based on nine stations along a salinity gradient from oligohaline to polyhaline. Samples were collected using a Smith McIntyre grab and yielded 1886 individuals, from 43 species grouped into 24 families. The fauna was mainly dominated by Composetia sp. (39.48%) and Cossura sp. (31.87%); the former in oligohaline areas and the latter in the polyhaline areas. The densities of both species had significant positive correlations with salinity, temperature, and silt, clay, and gravel contents. This study will benchmark the polychaete community distribution in this tropical estuary, which could be similar to environments along the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia (South China Sea).

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Data Availability

The datasets used and analysed during the current study are available from the authors upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the crew of research boats Discovery 1 and Discovery 2, Centre of Research and Field Services (CRAFS), laboratory staff at the Faculty of Science and Marine Environment and Faculty of Fisheries and Food Science, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, for their technical support during sampling and analysis. Sincere appreciation also goes to a team of final year and postgraduate students who helped during the fieldwork.

Funding

The funding for this project was provided by Universiti Malaysia Terengganu under the ‘Tabung Penyelidik Muda’ research grant (Vot No. 68007/2016/80) awarded to Izwandy Idris.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science and Marine Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, 21030, Malaysia

    Nurul Syazwani Alias

  2. Institute of Oceanography and Environment (INOS), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia

    Muzzalifah Abd Hamid, Nur Fazne Ibrahim & Zainudin Bachok

  3. South China Sea Repository and Reference Centre, Institute of Oceanography and Environment (INOS), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia

    Izwandy Idris

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  1. Nurul Syazwani Alias
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Contributions

NSA designed the research, performed data collection and analysis, supervised by II and ZB. MAH and NFI prepared and revised the original drafts of the manuscript, performed data analysis, and edited by II. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Izwandy Idris.

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Alias, N.S., Abd Hamid, M., Ibrahim, N.F. et al. Polychaete Assemblages in the Sungai Terengganu Estuary (East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia): Spatial Distribution Patterns. Wetlands 42, 111 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-022-01631-w

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