Distribution and diversity of Oligochaetes of Tamilanadu coast, India

ABSTRACT Aim of this research was to investigate Oligochaetes distribution and diversity in Tamilnady Coast during 2006 and 2007. Meiofauna was abundant in all samples; the animals are harpacticoida, Nematoda, Oligochaeta, Tardigrada, Ostracoda etc. During the present study, oligochaetes were observed to be the second dominant group only at stations 6 and 7, which were organically enriched. This is found in abundance in sewage polluted waters. Keywords: Oligochaetes, Diversity, abundance, Distribution & Density REFERENCES Coull, B. C., G. R. F. Hicks and Wells, J. B. J., 1981. Nematode/copepod ratios for monitoring pollution: A rebuttal. Mar. Pollut. Bull.12:198-381. Dye, A. H., 1983. Composition and seasonal fluctuation of meiofauna in a southern African mangrove estuary. Mar. Biol., 73:165-170. Hodda, M. and Nicholas, W.L., 1985. Meiofauna associated with mangroves in the Hunter river estuary and Fullerton cove, South-Eastern Australia. Aust. J. Mar. Freshw. Res., 36: 41-50. Goldin, Q., V. Mishra, V. Ullal, R. P. Athalye and Gokhale, K. S., 1996. Meiobenthos of mangrove mudflats from shallow region of Thane creek, Central west coast of India. Indian J. Mar. Sci., 25: 137-141