DIVERSITY SPECIES COMPOSITION OF BENTHIC ANIMAL AT XUAN DAI GULF PHU YEN PROVINCE

Abstract

The composition of benthic animals at Xuan Dai gulf, Phu Yen province was determined in five investigations and surveys during 2017–2018. The results showed the identification of 144 species of the benthic animal belonging to 92 genera, 52 families, 22 orders, 7 classes, and 4 phylums distributed in 6 sampling locations. The Mollusc is greatest with 73 species belonging to 44 genera, 25 families, 2 orders, and 2 classes; phylum Echinodermata had 19 species belonging to 14 genera, 12 families, 6 orders, and 2 classes; phylum Annelida has 11 species belonging to 8 genera, 4 families, 2 orders, and 1 class; phylum Arthropoda has 41 species belonging to 26 genera, 11 families, 1 order and 1 class. The new checklist adds 95 new species, 56 new genera and 31 new families to 2001 zoobenthic checklist of Xuan Dai gulf. Besides, the results pointed out 23 benthic animal species that had primarily economic value at the Xuan Dai gulf including 2 Holothuroidea species, 9 Bivalvia species, 5 Gastropoda species, 7 Crustacea species.