Occurrence and abundance of macrobenthos of: Hatiya and Nijhum Dweep Islands, Bangladesh

The present study was undertaken to know the distribution of intertidal macrobenthos of Hatiya and Nijhum Dweep during premonsoon (January-June, 2010). The macrobenthos of Hatiya and Nijhum Dweep were collected by using hand-held mud corer (10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm) having a mouth opening of 0.01 m ² from seven different stations. A total of 10 major groups/taxa were identified during premonsoon from all stations. The maximum density (4511 individual /m ²) was found at Nijhum Dweep Namar Bazar and the minimum (433 individual /m ²) at Nalchira Ghat. The macrobenthos included polychaetes (45.03 %), oligochaetes (16.65 %), shrimp larvae (13.93 %), crab (9.63 %), gastropods (3.56 %), isopods (1.15 %), bivalves (1.15 %), copepods (0.73 %), annelids (0.42 %), amphipods (0.63 %) and others (7.12 %). Polychaetea, oligochaetea, shrimp larvae and crab contributed 85.24 % of total population. Polychaete was dominant by contributing 45.03 % of total macrobenthos. The information which is included here can be used to measure the impact of pollution, to conserve biodiversity of those area and anyone can use for further study.