Diversity of zooplankton and benthic macroinvertebrates of estuarine coastal waters in Tien Giang province, southern Vietnam

Abstract

The Tien Giang province is located in the tropical climate zone of the Mekong delta. In this study, the diversity of zooplankton and benthic macroinvertebrates were investigated in the estuarine coastal waters of the Tien Giang province of southern Vietnam. 10 sites were observed over six time periods from 2019 (March, May, September, and November) and 2020 (March and May). The taxonomic richness, abundance, and diversity index were applied to this biodiversity assessment of the zooplankton and benthic macroinvertebrates. The results of the assessment showed that 30 species of zooplankton and 18 species of benthic macroinvertebrates were found in the study area. The density of zooplankton at each site ranged from 6 to 93 individuals/sample, while the density of benthic macroinvertebrates at each site fluctuated from 3 to 12 individuals/sample. The Shannon-Wiener diversity index of zooplankton fluctuated from 1.02 to 1.58 and that of the benthic macroinvertebrates ranged between 0.91 and 1.33. Besides, statistical analysis showed that the species richness of the zooplankton and benthic macroinvertebrates positively correlated with their density (r=0.2283-0.6423). This study contributes to the diversity information of zooplankton and benthic macroinvertebrates, which can be used to position the sustainable management of natural resources and evaluate the natural feed sources for aquaculture in this estuarine area.