TITLE:
Gastropods Diversity in Thondaimanaru Lagoon (Class: Gastropoda), Northern Province, Sri Lanka
AUTHORS:
Amarasinghe Arachchige Tiruni Nilundika Amarasinghe, Thampoe Eswaramohan, Raji Gnaneswaran
KEYWORDS:
Biodiversity, Quadrat Sampling, Conservation, Human Impact
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.9 No.3,
March
12,
2021
ABSTRACT: Thondaimanaru lagoon (TL) is one of the three lagoons in the Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka. TL (N-9.819584, E-80.134086), which is 74.5 Km2. Fringing these lagoons are mangroves, large tidal flats and salt marshes. The present study is carried out to assess the diversity of gastropods in the northern part of the TL. The sampling of gastropods was performed by using quadrat method from July 2015 to June 2016. Different sites were selected and rainfall data, water temperature, salinity of the water and GPS values were collected. Collected gastropod shells were classified using standard taxonomic keys and their morphological as well as morphometrical characteristics were analyzed. A total of 23 individual gastropods were identified from the lagoon which belongs to 21 genera of 15 families among them 11 gastropods were identified up to species level.