Nematode Diversity at Thachin River Mouth, Samut Sakhon, Thailand

Abstract

Nematode communities were investigated in January and June 2008 at the western Thachin River mouth, Samut Sakhon, Thailand. The sampling site is comprised of two different habitats, i.e. mangrove forest characterized by Avicennia marina and mudflat adjacent to the mangrove forest. Mean densities of the nematode ranged from 110 - 995 ind.10 cm-2 while taxonomic classification showed 32 and 50 genera in the mudflat and mangrove forest, respectively. The high diversity indices of nematode assemblages were recorded in both habitats with values ranged between 0.49 - 2.32 in mudflat and 2.02 - 2.92 in mangrove. The predominant genera were Terschellingia sp. Daptonema sp. Sabatieria sp. and Hopperia sp. Two distinct groups of nematode communities between the two habitats were detected by multidimensional scaling, analyses of similarity percentages. The number of species and density were significantly different in the two different habitats (p < 0.05). The mangrove forest provided wide variety of microhabitat and physically stable environment while the mudflat area was exposed to water turbulence and prone to anthropogenic activities. The environmental differences of the two communities may have resulted in higher diversity and density of nematodes in the mangrove forest.