Metaprotella Sandalensis (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Caprellidae): A Bioindicator of Nutrient Enrichment on Coral Reefs? A Preliminary Study at Mauritius Island

• Published in: Environmental monitoring and assessment Vol. 104; no. 1-3; pp. 353 - 367
• Main Authors: Guerra-Garc a, J. M., Koonjul, M. S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrect Springer 01.05.2005; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Algae; Amphipoda; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Anthozoa; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Caprellidae; Chemical oxygen demand; Coral reefs; Crustacea; Crustacea - physiology; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Environmental monitoring; Environmental Monitoring - methods; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Male; Marine; Mauritius; Metaprotella; Metaprotella sandalensis; Multivariate analysis; Nutrients; Silting; Turbinaria ornata; Indian Ocean Islands; Mauritius; ISW, Indian Ocean, Mauritius; Biological indicator; Coral reef; Caprellidae; Mauritius; Amphipoda; Marine environment; Crustacea; bioindicator; Pollution; Arthropoda; coral reefs; Nutrient; Invertebrata; Environmental monitoring; nutrient enrichment
• ISSN: 0167-6369; 1573-2959
• DOI: 10.1007/s10661-005-1621-9

The population of the caprellid Metaprotella sandalensis Mayer (Crustacea: Amphipoda) associated with the seaweed Turbinaria ornata (Turner) J. Agardh was studied on a spatial scale in relation to the influence of physico-chemical factors on the coral reef system at Mauritius Island. Some areas of the coast of Mauritius are currently subject to disturbance due to industrialisation and rapidly growing tourist development programmes, meanwhile other sites of the island are still unaltered. T. ornata was sampled at 12 stations, distributed around the whole island to represent the heterogeneous conditions. The density of Metaprotella sandalensis living on T. ornata was measured. The linear regression and the multivariate analysis showed a strong correlation between the densities of the caprellid and the physico-chemical parameters. The highest densities of M. sandalensis were found in the most stressed sites characterised by the highest values of nitrate, phosphate, chemical oxygen demand and silting. According to these results and taking into account that M. sandalensis and T. ornata are widely distributed in most of the tropical ecosystems, we preliminarily propose usage of the density of this caprellid as a new monitoring tool on coral reefs or, at least, as a first diagnosis for the detection of nutrient enrichment on these ecosystems.