S. Kosari - Department of Marine Science, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
R. Mousavi Nadushan - Department of Fisheries and Marine Science, Islamic Azad University, Tehran North Branch, Tehran, Iran
M.R. Fatemi - Department of Marine Science, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
K. Ejlali Khanghah - Persian Gulf and Oman Sea Ecological Research Institute, Bandar Abbas, Iran
A. Mashinchian - Department of Marine Science, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

The present study was conducted with the aim of identification of macrobenthos in the Yekshabe estuary in Persian Gulf. Sampling of macrobenthos was performed from spring ۲۰۱۵ for one year. It was carried out seasonally by the Van Veen Grab (۰.۰۴ m۲) at four stations, with three replications. The identified macrobenthos belonged to ۵۱ families, ۷۰ genera, ۸۰ species, ۴ classes (including Polychaeta, Malacostraca, Bivalvia, Gastropoda) and ۵ Phyla. The average total density of macrobenthos was ۷۶۰±۶۱۴ per square meter. The most frequently observed classes of macrobenthos belonged to Polychaeta (۶۷.۸%), Malacostraca (۱۸.۵%), Bivalvia (۱۱.۶%) and Gastropoda (۱.۲%), respectively. According to the results of the Kruskal–Wallis test, there was no significant difference between the macrobenthos classes among the different sampling stations. The highest values of the Shannon-Wiener index of diversity (۳.۰۷) and the Margalef's richness index (۴.۶۶) were observed in spring, whereas the highest value of the Pielou's evenness index (۰.۹۵) was observed in autumn. The values of all indices at station ۴ were the highest as compared to those of the others. The results of ANOVA test showed that the mean values of the indices were significantly different (p<۰.۰۵) in different seasons, whereas the mean values were not significantly different at stations

Persian Gulf, Yekshabe estuary, Macrobenthos, Biodiversity, Environmental factors