Journal of Marine Biology

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In this study, the corals of scleractinia order were investigated and identified in the tidal zones of Hengam Islands in winter 2009. To fulfill this study, five transect in following 5 stations: Arabha, Khenezi, Abas, Ghil, and Eskele around the island have been considered. Sampling has been done in the beginning of ebb. Each transect has been investigated by netted quadrat 1×1m and squares 10×10 cm completely. The samples have been identified according to the valid references and the numbers of colonies of stations have been compared. According to the findings, 8 species of 3 families of scleractinia have been identified in the tidal zones. From the percentage of species frequencies and covering point of view, the results of ANOVA in the stations showed meaningful differences (p<0.05). In Scleractinia, the most species belong to Faviidae family. Between the related stations, Eskele station was better than the other stations from the corals frequencies point of view.

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This study was conducted to determine shell selection behavior in five rare hermit crabs in 6 selected stations located in the intertidal zones of Hormuz Island. Seasonal sampling was conducted during the summer 2010 to spring 2011. The samples of hermit crabs from the stations were separately fixed in 70% ethanol and were transported to the laboratory. Hermit crabs were identified with valid key identification at the species level. This identification was verified by comparing the samples with the metatypical hermit crabs samples in the Zoological Museum, University of Tehran. Shells occupied by each of the hermit crabs were identified at the species level. Comparing the samples with the metatypical shells samples in the Conchology Museum, Tokyo University of Science, verified the species. According to our results five hermit crab species (Diogenes planimanus, D. tirmiziae, Coenobitascaevola, Dardanustinctor and Clibanariuslongitarsus) with low abundance were identified in Hormuz Island. These hermit crab species respectively occupied 5, 4, 3, 4, and 2 species of gastropods for protecting their abdominal section. In general, the shell selection behaviors showed that these hermit crabs use the shells of 11 gastropod species and Thais lacera with 19 occurrences (35.8% of all the shells) was the highest frequent occupied shell. Also, the results showed that station 1 (coast of Hormuz Marine Research Center) had the highest abundance of the hermit crabs.

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The aim of this study was to evaluate the biodiversity and density of green algae from the coasts of Bushehr province inthe Persian Gulf during two warm and cold seasons. Entromorpha intestinaliswas dominant species in between two green algae that was sampled from all stations and hadthe most density (878 ±323.19 n/m2) in all stations. These species alsohadthe most density(658 ± 465.27 n/m2) in Ganaveh station. The most density(586 ± 227 per m) ofE. intestinalis observed in the mid andmiddletidal zones. Rhizoclonium riparium specieswas observed at four tidal zones. The most density of green algae was belonging to spring (826 ± 346.48 numbers in m2). The highest biomass (500 ± 353.55 gr dry weight in m²) of green algae observed in Ganaveh station. The most green algae biomass (505.8 ± 349 gr dry weight in m²) was revealed in the spring. Most of Margalefindex (0.18) was related to the nuclear power station. The highest Simpson index (0.94) and Shannon index (0.59) were belonged to Lower Mid Littoral area of the tidal zone and the Upper Mid Littoral of the tidal zone, respectively. There was a lowrelative correlationbetween temperature and density of green algae(R2 = 0.15) atstudied stations.

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Sponges are multicellular animal and the members of the phylum Porifera. Aim of present study was identification of the sponges from the tidal areas of Hormuz Island by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Sampling was done from six stations in tidal areas of Hormuz Island without special instrument in spring and summer 2015. The samples were freezed and transferred to laboratory. The thin sections were prepared from apical, middle and basal parts of five identified sponges. After digesting of organic material, their spicules were evaluated by SEM. The length of siliceous spicules of Haliclona sp. and Niphates sp. were 95 μm and needle-shaped, point-ended and were embed in spongin fibers. The siliceous spicules of Hemiasterella bouilloni were needle-shaped and point-ended spicules and 300-500μm length with sponging. A mixture of siliceous and needle-shaped, point-ended, round-ended along with sponging fibers were observed in Ecionemia solida. Chondrilla australiensis had siliceous needle-shaped and point-ended spicules with100-600μm along with spongin fibers. So, evaluation of spicules by Scanning Electron Microscope could be an appropriate method for more exact identification of sponges.

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Red algae with about 4,000 species are ecologically important and economically used. The goal of this study was to evaluate biodiversity and density of Red algae of the Persian Gulf coast in Bushehr province during two sampling periods (warm and cold season) in 2011 at three stations: Genaveh, Bushehr University and Atomic power plant station.Linear transect sampling method with three replication was used for ecological calculation of red algae. After identifying the species, the number of each species in the Quadrat were recorded as abundance to be used in statistical analysis and calculation of indicators. Red algae identified in this study were belonged to 23 species of 8 families.The highest density of red algae was observed at Atomic power plant station (8.6 ± 1.9 N/m²) in the Infra littoral Zone(9.6 ± 2.7 N/m²)and in spring(8.7±1.9 N/m²).The reason for this can be attributed to the rocks of Atomic power plant station in order to have an adequate support for the connection and growth of algae, the greater depth of water in the Infra littoral Zone and the appropriateness of the air in the early spring. Laurencia snyderia was observed at high density(18/2 ± 6/8 N/m²) and Gracilaria corticata was revealed most biomass(52/59 ± 26/60 W/m²) in between of red alga in whole studied stations. The highest amount of Shanon index (2.4) and Evinness index (0.898) were related to Atomic power plant station.The reason for this can be related to the high desirability of this habitat due to the low slope and expanse of the tidal zone. Most of Margalef index(2/56) was displayed in University station.The highest diversity (2.21) and the best species richness (2.6) were related to the Mid Mid Litoral which indicates the condition of the region in terms of light and moisture for the growth of red algae.

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Substrate material and depth can play a key role in spatial distribution of biofouling species. Oyster Saccostrea cucullata is one of the biofouling species residing intertidal zones of the Persian Gulf. In the present study, effects of substrate material and depth on density of this species were investigated. Density and relative frequency of S. cucullata on the three substrate types consist of rocks, concrete blocks, and metal substrates were measured in summer 2016 and winter 2017. To determine effects of depth, substrates in the upper and lower intertidal zones were studied. Our results showed that this species reached higher densities on the rocks (39.39 ind. m^-2) and metal (40.25 ind. m^-2) substrates. Concrete blocks exhibited lower densities of this oyster comparing with rocks and metal substrates. S. cucullata reached the highest relative frequencies on the metal surfaces (70 %) in comparison with the natural rocks (63 %). Depth did not showed any significant impact on density of this species in the studied intertidal areas. It appears using natural rocks as breakwaters could provide this species with favorable substrata and increase density of this biofouling species.