Abstract:
The aims of the present investigation were to study
the feature of biotic environment of oyster beds and to study quantitatively
the biodiversity of fauna and flora living within these habitats. Eighteen
selected oyster beds, within the Exclusive Economic Zone of Qatar were
investigated by scuba diving. Most of the oyster beds were found in the
area with sandy-rocky and Coral blocks bottom forms. Pearl oysters abundance
varied widely between the different beds and within the same beds due
to the variations in the bottom substrates. The associated biota was composed
mainly of Algae (4%), Porifera (3%), Cnidaria (8%), Polychaeta (4%), Echinodermata
(13%), Mollusca (55%), Chordate (2%) and Crustacean (11%). The comparison
of our findings on the occurrence and distribution of marine biota to
previous studies has shown similarities between Qatar and other Gulf States
particularly Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
J.A. Al-Khayat and M.A. Al-Ansi, 2008. Ecological Features of Oyster Beds Distribution in Qatari Waters, Arabian Gulf. Asian Journal of Scientific Research, 1: 544-561.
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