Received: 16-03-2021 / Accepted: 07-06-2021
This study aimed to examine the correlation between salinity, organic matter content (TOM) and sediment structure on the distribution of Polychaetes in Cu Lao Dung district, Soc Trang province. The study was conducted with 2 sampling periods in the rainy season (9/2019) and dry season (3/2020) at 24 sites, divided into 8 locations denoted as N1-N8 thereafter, in which the inland area from N1-N5 and the mangrove area from N6-N8. The results showed that salinities ranged from 0.1-18.6‰. Salinity in the dry season was higher around 8 times than that in the rainy season. Similarly, total organic matter (TOM) in the dry season was also higher than that in the rainy season. At all locations, the percentage of silt was much higher than clay and sand. A total of 13 species belonging to 12 genera, 10 families and 5 orders was identified in the study area, in which number of species varied from 1-7 at each sampling site. Density of polychaetes varied from 3-117inds m-2among locations and densities of each species highly varied with a range of 0-71 inds m-2. The canonical correspondence analysis (CCA)revealed that there was a high correlation between environmental factors, such as salinity and sediment characteristics, and distribution of polychaetes in the study area.