Estimate of Biomass and Secondary Production of Macrobenthos in Khore-e-Mousa

To estimate the biomass and secondary production of macrobenthos in Khore-e-Mousa creeks, 216 sediment samples were taken. The sampling period started in 1996 and terminated in 1997. A bimonthly sampling strategy was adopted. The samples were taken by Van-Veen grab (0.1 m2) from the beginning, middle and end of each creek (Khor). To estimate the biomass of the macrobenthos, the Crisp method (1984) was employed. The standing crop was expressed as dry weight and ash free dry weight. For the measurement of secondary production, a dominant crustacean species Apseudes sp. was used. The results indicated a low biomass per unit area in Khore-e-Mousa creeks. Maximum and minimum amounts of the standing crop were found to be in June (33.5 g DW/m2) and December (2.19 g DW/m2), respectively. Amongst all creeks, Douragh creek displayed the highest (24.93 g DW/m2) and Beehad the lowest (2.24 g DW/m2) standing crops. During the study period, 1483 individuals of Apseudes sp. were collected and grouped into 5 age classes according to Bhattacharya (Sparre, 1989) method. The secondary production was estimated to be 0.08 g/m2 ash free dry weight (AFDW). The production/biomass ratio (P/B), therefore, is calculated as 0.08÷0.18=0.44. Considering the ecological efficiency, (transfer efficiency) of different trophic levels which is about 10%, the fish production is estimated to be 2430 tons in Khore-e-Mousa area.