A COMPARATIVE SURVEY OF ABUNDANCE AND BIOMASS OF CASPIAN SEA MACROBENTHOS IN COASTAL WATERS OF MAZANDARAN PROVINCE

Caspian Sea macrobenthos was surveyed every two months from December 2007 to October 2008, in the west, east and central parts of Mazandaran province waters. Each area was sampled with 3 replicates at 2 depths of 5 and 10m by Van Veen grab. Five different classes were recognized, including Polychaeta (52. 7%), Oligochaeta (27. 8%), Bivalvia (12%), Crustacea (7. 5%) and Insecta (0. 07%). Total mean (±SD) abundance and biomass were 2727±1303 individuallm2 and 88. 9±22. 93, respectively. The Polychaeta demonstrated the highest abundance and Bivalvia had the highest biomass. The highest abundance of macrobenthos was found in eastern and the highest biomass in western coasts of Mazandaran. In August 2008, macrobenthos abundance showed higher values. In October, remarkable difference was observed between the abundance of Polychaeta and other macrobenthos organisms. According to Kruskal-Wallis test, abundance and biomass of the entire macrobenthosclasses except Insecta, showeda significant difference between sampling months (P<0. 05). Macrobenthos biomass had no significant difference among the three areas whereas abundance demonstrated a significant difference within these areas (P< 0. 05).