Deciphering top-down impact of cerithiid gastropods on meiobenthic assemblages: insights from tropical estuaries along the central west coast of India
Date
2025Author
Ghosh, M.
Pathan, F.
Alvares, C.
Yadav, R.
Bhurke, O.
Deepak, R.P
Nandakumar, K.
Lakshmi, S.
Nanajkar, M.
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Macro-epifaunal grazers influence the infaunal communities through top-down control in intertidal estuarine ecosystems. The present study aimed to investigate the influence of cerithiid gastropod Pirenella cingulata (Gastropoda: Potamididae) on the meiobenthic community composition, especially free-living nematodes functional diversity in two tropical estuaries from the central west coast of India: the Zuari and Mandovi. The average meiobenthic abundance was significantly reduced in gastropod grazing areas as compared to gastropod non-grazing sites in both the estuaries. Sediment samples from Zuari revealed a total of thirteen meiobenthic taxa in grazing sections and eleven taxa in non-grazing areas, while in Mandovi, twelve and fourteen taxa were recorded from gastropod grazing and non-grazing sites correspondingly. In both rivers, free-living marine nematodes were the dominant meiobenthic taxon, with a total of 55 species recorded at study sites. Interestingly, the biological traits analysis of nematode assemblages revealed no clear differences associated with the grazing behaviour. Thus, the present study provided a foundational dataset on grazing and bioturbation activities of P. cingulata strongly modulating co-occurring meiobenthic assemblages. As meiobenthos support fisheries by serving as food resources, long-term monitoring of macrobenthos and meiobenthos interactions will contribute for sustainable fisheries management and to achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those focused on food security (SDG 2) and life below water (SDG 14).
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