Benthic mollusks and crustaceans recorded from the Kumanoe River estuary, Nobeoka, Japan
2009
Umemoto, A.(Miyazaki Univ. (Japan). Faculty of Agriculture) | Miura, T.
The faunal composition of benthic mollusks and crustaceans was investigated in the Kumanoe River Estuary, Nobeoka, on the East central coast of the Kyusyu Island, Japan. In this estuary, the bottom sediment varies from silty mud to gravels. The estuary was divided into seven subareas on these sediment types as well as the variable salinity affected by the fresh water flow. For each of these subareas, the estuarine benthic animals were sampled 30 times from March 2006 to May 2008. In total, 89 benthic animal species including 29 gastropods, 10 bivalves and 50 decapod crustaceans were recorded. Among them, 23 are known as threatened estuary species after the red data book (RDB) published by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment, and 32 after the RDB by Miyazaki Prefecture. A high density population of Ceritium coralium, an endangered gastropod, was found along the creek of the estuary. Several remarkable endangered decapods such as Deiratonotus japonicas, D. kaoriae, Uca arcuata and Sestrostom toriumii were found to be common. The necessity of protection of this wetland was strongly lined with these rich fauna of benthic invertebrates found in this study.
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