Meiofauna as a biological indicator of coastal water pollution
1997
Idris B.A. Ghani | Shirayama, Y. | Shabdin Mohd Long
Invertebrate animals have been used widely as biological indicator in detection of water pollution especially in marine and coastal waters. Among the invertebrates that are commonly used include the macrobenthos and zooplankton, such as Molluscs, Polychaete, Crustaceans, Echinoderms and Anthozoans. Traditionally, diversity index, density index or presence or absence of certain benthic or planktonic species are used to associate with the pollution in the marine and coastal environments. Recently more attention is given to the microbenthic groups or meiofauna as they are found to be more stable and reliable biological indicators. New indices are being developed based on meiofaunal communities, such as Nematodes:Copepod ratio, Kinoryncha:Nematodes ratio and Polychaete:Copepods ratio. These indices are said to be more reliable in determining the state of pollution and level of pollutants in marine or coastal waters.
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