Macrobenthic fauna of the coastal sea beds of Oran's Gulf (Western Algeria)
Abstract
K. Belhadj Tahar, A. Baaloudj, A. Kerfouf*, M.A. Benallal and F. Denis
This present work dealing with the study of the benthic community in the Oran's Gulf permits an overview of the macrobenthos encountered in this area, which seems to be more or less threatened by industrial and urban pollution. This study aimed to establish an initial reference state of coastal environments to contribute to the knowledge necessary for their sustainable management. The inventory of the macrobenthic fauna of the Gulf of Oran carried out in 2019 identified 618 macrobenthic individuals, divided into four taxa (531 polychaetes, 38 crustaceans, 31 mollusks, and 18 echinoderms), distributed in 8 sites. The taxonomic diversity included 60, 23, 15, and 9 species of polychaetes, crustaceans, mollusks, and echinoderms, respectively. All this information obtained made it possible to estimate the diversity of macrobenthic invertebrates and characterize the main communities in the coastal sea bed of the Gulf's Oran.