naa a22 4500 510765483 CHVBK 20180411083155.0 cr unu---uuuuu 180411e20130301xx s 000 0 eng 10.1134/S0001437013010049 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1134/S0001437013010049 Macrobenthic communities of the Vellar Estuary in the Bay of Bengal in Tamil-Nadu in South India [Elektronische Daten] [M. Chertoprud, E. Chertoprud, A. Saravanakumar, T. Thangaradjou, Yu. Mazei] The macrobenthic fauna and communities of the Vellar Estuary located at the southeast cost of India (11°30′ N, 79°45′ E) and the adjacent marine and river habitats are described on the basis of original data (70 samples over 10 transects). The fauna consists of 115 macrobenthic species and 79 species in estuarine habitats. We described 14 types of macrobenthic communities with different compositions of the dominant species. The leading ecological factors of the distribution of the communities are the salinity, depth, and bottom type. The Vellar estuary consists of two longitudinal zones of macrobenthos. The polyhalinic area is populated by the marine species, but it is related not to a salinity decrease but to the protection from waves and silt on the bottom in this area. The polyhalinic communities are most abundant in terms of the biomass and species richness. The mesohalinic area is inhabited by brackish water species and communities with low abundance. The sublittoral estuarine area is dominated by filter-feeders—the bivalves Crassostrea madrasensis, Meretrix casta, Modiolus metcalfei, and Scapharca inaequivalves—and the littoral zone is dominated by the gastropods Cerithidea cingulata, some crabs, and polychaetes. The ecosystem function of the Vellar estuary can be defined as a filter for the fine organic particles transported by the river. Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2013 Chertoprud M. Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia aut Chertoprud E. Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia aut Saravanakumar A. Annamalai University, Chidambaram, India aut Thangaradjou T. Annamalai University, Chidambaram, India aut Mazei Yu Belinsky Penza State University, Penza, Russia aut Oceanology SP MAIK Nauka/Interperiodica 53/2(2013-03-01), 200-210 0001-4370 53:2<200 2013 53 11491 https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001437013010049 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001437013010049 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Chertoprud M. Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Chertoprud E. Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Saravanakumar A. Annamalai University, Chidambaram, India aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Thangaradjou T. Annamalai University, Chidambaram, India aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Mazei Yu Belinsky Penza State University, Penza, Russia aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Oceanology SP MAIK Nauka/Interperiodica 53/2(2013-03-01), 200-210 0001-4370 53:2<200 2013 53 11491 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer