Polychaetes obtained from the Bon Accord Lagoon Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago

Occurrence Observation
Latest version published by Institute of Marine Affairs on Jun 30, 2023 Institute of Marine Affairs
Publication date:
30 June 2023
License:
CC-BY-NC 4.0

Download the latest version of this resource data as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) or the resource metadata as EML or RTF:

Data as a DwC-A file download 68 records in English (8 KB) - Update frequency: not planned
Metadata as an EML file download in English (21 KB)
Metadata as an RTF file download in English (11 KB)

Description

Polychaete communities present in Thalssia testudinum beds of Bon Accord Lagoon Tobago.

Data Records

The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 68 records.

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Kanhai A (2023). Polychaetes obtained from the Bon Accord Lagoon Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago. Version 1.1. Institute of Marine Affairs. Occurrence dataset. https://cloud.gbif.org/lac/resource?r=polychaetes_bal&v=1.1

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is Institute of Marine Affairs. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC 4.0) License.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: ffb8fa93-1c6f-48a1-b464-cf1e683cf680.  Institute of Marine Affairs publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by Participant Node Managers Committee.

Keywords

Occurrence; Annelida; biological monitoring; Caribbean marine research; benthic communities Trinidad; Observation; Annelida; biological monitoring; Caribbean marine research; benthic communities Trinidad

Contacts

Attish Kanhai
  • Originator
  • Research Officer
Institute of Marine Affairs
  • Hilltop Lane
Chaguaramas
TT
  • 8686344291
Institute of Marine Affairs
  • Point Of Contact
  • Data Officer
Institute of Marine Affairs
  • Hilltop Lane
Chaguaramas
TT
  • 8686344291
Paul Nelson
  • Point Of Contact
  • Data Officer
Institute of Marine Affairs
  • Hilltop Lane
Chaguaramas
TT
  • 8686344291

Geographic Coverage

Bon Accord Lagoon Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago

Bounding Coordinates South West [11.167, -60.827], North East [11.167, -60.827]

Taxonomic Coverage

N/A

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Annelida
Class Polychaeta
Order Phyllodocida, Terebellida, Eunicida, Eunicida 
Family Oenonidae, Magelonidae, Onuphidae, Capitellidae, Maldanidae, Hesionidae, Lumbrineridae, Ophellidae, Ampharetidae, Cossuridae, Eunicidae, Dorvilleidae, Cirratulidae, Orbiniidae, Glyceridae, Nereididae, Flabelligeridae, Nephtyidae

Temporal Coverage

Start Date 2018-08-21

Project Data

Bon Accord Lagoon (BAL), Tobago is home to a Thalassia testudinum (K.D. Koenig, 1805) dominated seagrass community and polychaetes usually show an affinity to seagrass beds compared to other environments. The objectives of this study were to investigate the polychaete community associated with the Thalassia beds in BAL and determine seasonal variation. Thirty–one polychaete families were ranked according to trophic categories as described by Fauchald and Jumars (1979) and updated where possible. Deposit feeders were the largest trophic group represented across both seasons in the BALwith Maldanidae being the most dominant. Based on functional traits of the community the environment at BAL can be regarded as healthy. This study establishes a much-needed baseline for future research and management of marine biodiversity in southwest Tobago.

Title Polychaete communities in the Bon Accord Lagoon, Tobago
Identifier BID-CA2020-004-INS
Funding The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
Study Area Description BAL lies in the southwestern region of Tobago at latitudes 11°10ʹ and 11°11ʹN and longitude, 60°49ʹ and 60°51ʹ E. The seagrass community in BAL covers an area of approximately 102 ha.2 and extends in some places to a depth of approximately 6 m. The seagrass beds are found in three main areas: north of Sheebird’s Point in the back reef area, south of Sheebird’s Point, and in the Lagoon extending from east of Gibson’s jetty straight toward the southeastern end of Pigeon Point. Turtle grass, T. testudinum is the dominant seagrass species in the Lagoon while smaller areas of Halophila decipiens (Ostenfeld, 1902) and Halodule wrightii (Ascherson, 1868) are interspersed among the turtle grass. The dominant algal genera areAcanthophera, Padina, Bryopsis, Dictyota, Halimeda, and Caulerpa while corals such as Porites porites (Pallas, 1766) also occur in the lagoon among the seagrass beds.
Design Description The objectives of this study were: (i) Assess the polychaete community in Southwest Tobago and group them into trophic categories (ii) Compare the polychaete community across wet and dry seasons in BAL (iii) Establish the status of the environment inBAL based on the functional traits of the polychaete community and (iv) Establish a baseline for future environmental assessment of the benthic environment in southwest Tobago.

The personnel involved in the project:

Attish Kanhai
  • Content Provider

Sampling Methods

Benthic macrofauna were collected among seagrass beds within the Bon Accord Lagoon, Tobago during two sampling periods, the dry and wet seasons of 2018 (March and September, respectively) using a handheld PVC corer. The National Geography in Shore Areas (NaGISA) protocol for sampling seagrass infauna was used which involved immersing a 15 cm diameter corer to a depth of 10 cm and using a rubber bung at the top of the device to create a vacuum.

Study Extent The Bon Accord Lagoon is located on the southwest coast of Tobago, which is located 32 km northeast of Trinidad, in the southeast Caribbean.

Method step description:

  1. Core samples were sieved in the field using a 0.5 mm mesh screen. Samples were stained with Rose Bengal and preserved with a 10% formalin seawater mixture. The benthic organisms studied were polychaetes, which were sorted and identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level using the key: The Polychaete worms. Accepted taxa were checked against the World Register of Marine Species www.marinespecies.org

Additional Metadata

Purpose

The purpose of this data set is to provide a baseline for polychaete communities in Bon Accord Lagoon Tobago. These are useful environmental indicators upon which future work can build to monitor the health and status of the marine environment in this area.
Alternative Identifiers ffb8fa93-1c6f-48a1-b464-cf1e683cf680
https://cloud.gbif.org/lac/resource?r=polychaetes_bal