1 1562-1057 Iranian National Institute for Oceanography and Atmospheric Science 1098 Marine Biology Population Structure Analysis of Large Head Hairtail (Trichiurus lepturus) Using Morphological Methods and Microsatellite in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea Ehsan Esfandiari b Salari Aliabadi Mohammad Ali c Sakhaei Nasrin d Valinasab Touraj e Hoseini Javad f b Khorramshahr University of Marine Science and Technology c Khorramshahr University of Marine Science and Technology d Khorramshahr University of Marine Science and Technology e Institute of Fisheries Research f Institute for Persian Gulf 1 3 2017 8 29 1 7 21 11 2016 23 04 2017 Large head hair tail lives in warm waters around the world and around the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea. In this study, 310 samples from four  populations of this species in the waters of Chabahar, East and West of Strait of Hormuz and waters of Bushehr were collected using trawl fishing method. The morphological and microsatellite analysis were performed on the samples. Morphological analysis based on the similarity of populations and individuals were studied using SPSS v.20 and Primer v.5 software. The average number of alleles per population was 7.00, the number of alleles per locus was 3-15 with an average of 7.17 and the observed and expected heterozygosis average were 0.32 and 0.75 respectively. Among the 7 studies microsatellite loci, 6 microsatellite loci had deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The highest value of Fst based on AMOVA between the population of large head hair tail in the west of Strait of Hormuz and in the Cabahar waters was 0.145 and the lowest value of Fst between the population of large head hair tail in the Bushehr waters and in the Chabahar waters was 0.095.
1099 Marine Biology Effect of Organic and Carbonate Content on Liquid and Plastic Limits of Seabed Soils in the Northern Persian Gulf Gerivani Hadi Naderi Bani Abdolmajid Pourkerman Majid Amjadi Sedigheh 1 3 2017 8 29 9 15 12 12 2016 23 05 2017 Type and rate of clay minerals are responsible for soil plasticity, but there are other parameters like carbonate and organic contents which can affect plasticity of soils. In this study, for assessing the effect of carbonate and organic contents on liquid and plastic limits in seabed sediments of northern Persian Gulf, laboratory tests were done and the results were compared to each other. Based on the test results, zoning maps of liquid limit, plastic limit, carbonate content and organic content for the study area were presented. The results showed that by increasing the carbonate content, the liquid and plastic limits and plastic index were decreased. Also, it was shown that the organic content had positive correlation with Atterberg limits and index. 1100 Marine Biology The Study of SST Optimization Using Nudging Scheme in Data Assimilation Method (Case Study: the Persian Gulf) Abbasi Mahmud Reza Chegini Vahid Sadrinasab Masoud Siadatmousavi Seyed Mostafa 1 3 2017 8 29 17 24 28 12 2016 28 05 2017 In this paper, we investigated the capabilities of SST data assimilation methods into FVCOM model using nudging scheme. In Data assimilation, observational data was combined with the numerical model in order to get the optimum model. This process was achieved by correcting the model errors for two purposes: first to optimize the desired variable and second to present the optimized initial condition for model. The studying domain was the Persian Gulf during 1998-2003. The model was run in two stages with the same setup: without and with assimilation method. To assess the impact of data assimilation, the model results in both runs were compared with valued OISST data in spatial distribution and temporal evaluation. The statistical parameter values were improved by using data assimilation. The surface temperatures of shallow parts were optimized specially near the Strait of Hormuz. 1101 Marine Biology Strategic Programming of Coastal Tourism (Case study: Nowshahr) Moogouei Roxana Hosseini Sepideh Almozafar Reza 1 3 2017 8 29 25 33 17 01 2017 15 07 2017 Iran has about 800 km of shoreline bordering the Caspian Sea that provides nice tourism attractions for this coastal area. In this study, we attempted to formulate strategies for sustainable tourism management. The survey consisted of three parts. The first part explained the main aspects within government agencies relevant to tourism. In this part, we identified the variables that the chosen tourist destination considered critical for strategy formulation. In the two other sections, major aspects within tourism planning were considered based on tourists and resident's opinions. For strategic programming, SWOT, QSPM and principal component methods were used. All factors were evaluated by internal and external evaluation matrices. Final scores for each factor were calculated as 2.43 and 2.15 respectively. Finally, strategies were extracted and quantified through Quantitative Strategic Programming Matrix. Revision of laws and regulation gained the highest attractiveness score as 3.180. Moreover, these variables were analyzed using principle component method. Consequently, two main components were described; the first: "People based development of coastal hygiene and services" and the second: "Governmental based development of transportation systems". 1102 Marine Biology Study of Feeding Regime of Sea Cucumber Stichopus herrmanni Using Nutritional Indices on Coral Reefs of Southeast of the Qeshm Island, Persian Gulf Fanati Rashidi Fariba Kamrani Ehsan Sharif Ranjbar Mohammad 1 3 2017 8 29 35 41 17 09 2016 10 06 2017 This study aimed to investigate the sea cucumber Stichopus herrmanni diet in coral reef located southeast of the Qeshm Island and other nutritional indices. Sampling was done seasonally (10-15 samples in each season) in southeast of Qeshm Island (area around 515000 m­2) and intestinal contents were examined as a standard method. In this study, Diatoms, blue green algae, Micro benthic animals (foraminifers, nematodes and gastropod) as main prey were detected in the intestinal contents in this species. During different seasons, changes observed in the index of fullness and vacuity index of intestine and RLG Index was over one. In general, it seems that the diet changes happening in this beast is affected by different stages of life including sexual maturation and spawning.  1103 Marine Biology Investigating Abundance, Distribution and Accumulation of Plastic Resin Pellets and Fragments in the Caspian Sea: A Case Study of Noor Shores Masoudnik Mohammad Riyahi Bakhtiari Alireza Abdollahi Mahdi 1 3 2017 8 29 43 53 06 12 2016 10 06 2017 This study was an attempt to investigate abundance, distribution and accumulation of plastic resin pellets and fragments in the Caspian Sea on the basis of color, size and shape. Therefore, using National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) method, the plastic debris samples were collected from two separate stations with eighteen quadrats and in a range of two kilometers. The results of study showed that microplastics (whose size is less than 5 millimeter) were more abundant than meso and macro plastics. Also, it was found that plastic resin pellets (N=4263) were the most frequent microplastics. In addition, color analysis of the samples showed that white resin pellets and fragments have the highest frequency. In sum, it was found that plastic debris and fragment are widely and unevenly distributed along shore lines of the Caspian Sea. It seems that this phenomenon is the result of some factors such as characteristics of the Caspian Sea, climate change, vicinity to land mass and land sources, marine activities, geomorphology of the region and physical factors such as shape, size and density of debris rather than human activities. 1104 Marine Biology Developing a Predicting Model for Initial Oil Droplet Size Distribution due to a Subsea Oil Release Mirkhalili Seyed Hamzeh Mazaheri Said 1 3 2017 8 29 55 63 22 11 2016 28 06 2017 Regarding the important role of droplet size distribution for determination of time, location and trajectory of oil droplets in subsea oil and gas releases, in this research a model for prediction of oil droplet size distribution was presented. This paper dealed with the theoretical basis for the model first and then the model specifications were presented. The model parameters were used based on available experimental data. Effects of gas void fraction and buoyancy were also discussed. Using this research model, oil specific diameter can be calculated and then based on Rosin-Rammler (k=0.693, α=1.8) or Lognormal (S=0.78) distributions, oil droplet size distribution was determined. Surfacing time, location and trajectory of oil droplets can be calculated based on oil spill models.  This research results can be extended to full scale oil and gas release conditions given good agreement between this research results and experimental data (Deep Spill). 1105 Marine Biology Investigation of Diversity and Distribution of Phytoplankton Cysts in the Recent Sediments of the Western Chabahar Coasts Attaran-Fariman Gilan Hashemzai Mehri Khajeh Amiri Khaledi Chakavak 1 3 2017 8 29 65 74 11 02 2017 28 06 2017 In this paper, the diversity and distribution of phytoplankton cysts in the recent sediments of the western Chabahar Coasts were investigated. The sampling from cysts was done from 27 stations three times in summer and fall 2014. This sampling was done using Grab Ekman (225×225 cm). Physiochemical analysis of water was done by standard methods. According to the results of this research, 72 species belonged to 22 genera of Dinoflagellates were found. Scrippsiella and Protoperodinium with the most abundance were the prevailing species. Although, Scrippsiella, which was observed in most stations in both sampling seasons, is not a poisonous species, it has the capacity to produce harmful blooms. In general, the results of this study showed that the cysts frequency in different seasons has a significant difference and sediment type as a significant factor influences their abundance, so that smaller seed sediments are more abundant. 1108 Marine Biology Study of Biodiversity of Macrobenthos in Shadegan Wetland in Spring and Summer 2015 with Emphasis on Dominant Species Daei Nejad Parisa Khodadadi Mojgan Rajab Zadeh Ebrahim 1 3 2017 8 29 75 85 14 01 2017 28 06 2017 The aim of present study was examining the effects of changing seasons (spring and summer) on macrobenthos of Shadegan Wetland. The study was conducted in 2015 in seven stations along the wetland. To investigate the role of environmental factors on macrobenthic community changes, pH, temperature, EC, amount of dissolved oxygen and salinity were measured by portable HQ40d. Sediment sampling for identifying macrobenthos, the percentage of organic matter and sediment grain size analysis were done by Van Veen Grab Sampler with cross section of 0.025m2. The result of measuring physical and chemical factors showed a meaningful non-difference between the spring and summer seasons, but showed a difference in the number per square meter and the identified macrobenthos between the two seasons. The abundance was higher in spring. In spring, 48520 ind. 21 m2 from 6 macrobenthos classes were counted that the highest abundance were Gastropod (91.34 %), Oligochaeta (3.79 %), Polychaete (2.39 %), insects (1.73 %), Bivalves (0.65 %), and crustaceans (0.082 %). In summer, 48520 ind. 21 m2 from 6 macrobenthos classes were counted that the highest abundance were Gastropod (95.28 %), Bivalves (2.53 %), crustaceans (1.86 %), Oligochaeta (0.103 %), Polychaete (0.103 %), insects (0.103 %). In the study, the change of seasons has no significant effect on studied parameters such as temperature. In conclusion, the factors, except seasonal factors, affect the benthos abundance in spring and summer. 1107 Marine Biology Investigation of the Effect of Monsoon on Diversity and Density of Macrobenthos in Iranian Coast of Makran Sea (Oman Sea) Ejlali Khanghah Keivan Akbarzadeh Gholamali Rashidi Shohreh Mousavi Seyed Ali 1 3 2017 8 29 87 101 17 11 2017 01 07 2017 Sediment sampling for investigation of the effect of environmental factors on abundance and diversity of benthic community was carried out in Makran (Oman Sea) coast in pre and post monsoon with a 0.1m2 Van Veen Grab and CTD in 2007 and 2009. Polychaeta, Crustacea, Gastropoda and Bivalvia were the dominant groups of benthic community respectively either in pre or post monsoon. There was a significant difference between abundance in pre and post-monsoon (P<0.05). Pearson correlation was significantly different between abundance with depth (P<0.01) and DO and temperature (P<0.05). Shanoon and margalof indices changed increasingly from west to east of Makran (Oman Sea) coast but there was no significant correlation between diversity indices and environmental factors. The results showed that abundance of macrobenthos community in post-monsoon was more than pre-monsoon because of the Monsoon Sea current and the increase of chlorophyll-a in post-monsoon.