Correlation between the Seasonal Changes of Environmental parameters with Biodiversity and Biomass of Fish Cages Macrofoulings in Bandar Lengeh

Identification of macrofouling is the first step in their controlling on existing structures in the seas. During the four sampling phases from June 2015 to September 2016, eight species/genus belonging to 8 macrofouling families were identified and classified from the fish cages of Bandar Lengeh. Water physico-chemical parameters including temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and pH were measured in all seasons, and RDA test was used to assess biodiversity. The dominant macrofouling in this study was Amphibalanus sp. which was observed in all seasons. The highest mean biomass in macrofoulings belonged to Perophora sp.  with a mean weight of 214.39 ± 62.4 gr/cm2 in autumn. Significant differences were observed between the mean weight of macrofoulings in different seasons and also between mean water factors in four seasons (p<0.05). There was a significant difference between the mean water parameters in the four seasons (p<0.05). The results of RDA and Pearson correlation tests showed that temperature and oxygen were two environmental parameters affecting the diversity and biomass of cages biofouling in Bandar Lengeh.