Distribution And Abundance Of Benthic Foraminifera In The Coastalwaters Around Penang National Park
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Date
2013-05
Authors
Minhat, Fatin Izzati
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
A study on the distribution and abundance of benthic Foraminifera was
conducted along the coastal waters of Penang National Park, Malaysia. Four selected
sites (i.e Teluk Bahang, Teluk Aling, Teluk Ketapang and Pantai Acheh) were
chosen based on the degree of anthropogenic activities. A total of 192 sediment
samples were collected bimonthly between October 2010 and September 2011. Bulk
sediments samples, water samples and environmental parameters were collected
along the transect at 200 m intervals from the subtidal zone and extending up to 1200
m offshore. Foraminiferal assemblages comprised of 14 genera which include
Ammonia, Elphidium, Ammobaculites, Nonionoides, Bolivina, Asterorotalia,
Reophax, Eggerella, Textularia, Quinqueloculina, Astacolus, Lagena, Fissurina and
Hopkinsina were identified. The stress-tolerant taxa, Ammonia (56.35 %) and
Elphidium (9.11 %) dominated the assemblage at all sites. Meanwhile, the other
functional groups (i.e. other smaller miliolids and agglutinated) which occurred <5%
were considered as rare or accidental species. Diversity indices showed that Pantai
Acheh has a diverse assemblage (H’ = 0.57) followed by Teluk Ketapang (H’ =
0.47), Teluk Bahang (H’ = 0.43) and Teluk Aling (H’= 0.35).
Description
Keywords
Benthic Foraminifera , The Coastalwaters Around Penang National Park