Abstract

Series of field experiments were conducted in a remote estuarine creek of the Mengabang Telipot River on April 2012 and November 2012 to investigate the colonisation of the meiofauna on the azoic sediment. A total of 25 bottles filled with azoic sediment were deposited during low tide. Five replicates were retrieved on day 1, 4, 7, 10 and 13 days post-placement. Five replicates of sediment control were also taken to provide baseline information on the resident meiofaunal community. On each sampling occasion, the physico-chemical parameters such as temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and pH value were measured in situ. Both experiments in April and November 2012 recorded three major meiobenthic taxa, namely Nematoda, Gnathostomulida and Copepoda. The one-way ANOVA result had proved that the density of the meiofauna found in April 2012 had significant different with the azoic sediment at most stage of the experiment. Meanwhile, in November 2012, only the densities of copepods and nematodes were found statistically significant different during the experiment period. Environmental factors, substrate characteristics, the availability of the food and behaviour of individual taxa are very crucial in determining the consistency of the new recruitment to survive, recolonise and therefore reproduce in the new substrate.