Abstract
Benthic communities are important to any aquatic ecosystem and form important food source for most organisms especially fish. The study about macro benthos was carried out in a canal of south-eastern coast of Bangladesh with some physico-chemical parameters of water and soil during post and pre-monsoon seasons. The canal originates from hilly areas and opens into the Bay of Bengal. Polychaetes were the most abundant group followed by Oligocheates Bivalves crabs during post-monsoon. Oligocheates were the most abundant group followed by Polychaetes, Bivalves during pre-monsoon. Salinity showed positive significant relationship with the Polycheates and as well as Phosphate-Phosphorus. A negative significant relationship was found between Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Oligocheates abundance in the investigated canal and a positive relationship was found between Total Suspended Solids and Oligocheates abundance. There was no relationship among the parameters of water as well as soil and crab abundance. The abundance of macro benthos is useful indicators of the condition of the canal and of the canal habitat as a whole. The effect of anthropogenic induced stressors had resulted in an unstable physically controlled environment characterized by a low density of macrobenthos.
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