Caracterización del zoobentos asociado a la macroalga Colpomenia sinuosa en el litoral rocoso de Barbasquillo, desde noviembre 2021 - abril 2022, Manta-Ecuador.

Abstract

Zoobenthos plays a fundamental role in aquatic ecosystems. However, in the province of Manabí,specifically in the city of Manta, these organisms have been little studied. Therefore, the objective ofthis work was to characterize the zoobenthos associated with the macroalga Colpomenia sinuosa on therocky shoreline of Barbasquillo beach, in Manta, Ecuador. For this, tests were carried out fromNovember 2021 to April 2022 through 2 parallel transects and 2 perpendiculars to the beach line. Atotal of 13 species were found, of which Columbella rusticoides was the most abundant (60.4%),followed by Cerithium litteratum (14.8%) and Cerithium gallapaginis. No significant correlation wasdetected between the Simpson index and pH (t = 0.10792, df = 10, p = 0.9162), but the relationshipwith temperature was significant (t = 3.0676, df = 10, p = 0.01189). Similarly, no significant relationshipwas found between the Shannon index and pH (t = 0.069826, df = 10, p = 0.9457), but the relationshipwith temperature was significant (t = 3.0453, df = 10, p = 0.01235). It is concluded that molluscs arethe dominant group in the macroalga Colpomenia sinuosa in Barbasquillo. Also, pH did not influencespecies diversity, but temperature did.