Studies On Meiofauna Ecology And Taxonomy Of Free-living Nematodes From Intertidal Zone Of The East China Sea

To study the taxa composition, abundance, biomass, spatial distribution and diversity of meiofauna from the intertidal zone of the East China Sea, samples were collected from February 2013 to October 2014 in various stations, including Simon Island in the East China Sea coast of Wenzhou, Shanghai Chongming Island, Little Alexander refers to the Island, Shanghai Jinshan mouth fishing port, Laichang ferry of Shantou City of Guangdong Province, Nanao Island, Town of Kangmei in Dongshan County Fujian Province and so on. Meanwhile, diversity, species composition, taxonomy of free-living nematodes in the East China Sea coast were also studied. The results showed that the average abundance of the studied meiobenthos was 1199 ± 774 ind ·10cm-2, and the average biomass and production were 787 ± 353 ?g dwt·10cm-2 and 7088 ± 3178 ?g dwt·10cm-2·a-1. Fifteen kinds of meiofauna were selected, such as free-living nematodes, copepods nematodes, among which free-living nematodes was the most dominant group in abundance with a relative dominance of 91.73%. The average abundance of the studied nematodes was 1100 ± 778 ind·10 cm-2, the average biomass and production were 440 ± 311 ?g dwt·10cm-2, 3962 ± 2802 ?g dwt·10cm-2·a-1 respectively.In this study, 152 kinds of free-living nematodes were identified, belonging to 74 genera, 23 families and 4 orders. The nematodes composition varied among different stations. The dominant populations contained Dichromadora affinis Gagarin & Thanh, 2011, Parodontophora deltensis Zhang, 2005, Theristus sp1, Prochromadorella gracila Huang & Wang, 2011, Daptonema setihylocella Aryuthaka & Kito, 2012, Dichromadora sinica Huang & Zhang, 2010, Paracyatholaimus huanghaiensis Huang & Xu, 2012, Oncholaimus sinensis Zhang & Platt, 1983 and so on. In feeding type, non selective deposit feeders( 1B) and predators( 2A) were the main component which accounted for 46.14% and 46.07%. In the community structure of nematodes, junior individuals accounted for 37.05% of the nematode population, the proportion of male and female average 1.53: 1.Three new species of free-living nematodes were discovered and described, including Ptycholaimellus pirus sp.nov., Hypodontolaimus ventrapophyses sp.nov., Oncholaimus zhangi sp. nov.. Three new free-living nematodes species were identified and described in Parodontophora longiamphidata Wang & Huang, 2016, Abelbolla major Jiang, Wang & Huang, 2015, and Polygastrophora novenbulba Jiang, Wang & Huang, 2015. In addition, one new combination and nine new records of free-living nematode from the East China Sea were discovered and described, including Daptonema setihylocella Aryuthaka & Kito, 2012 and so on.