The Gastropod Fauna along the Bushehr Province Intertidal Zone of the Persian Gulf

The gastropod fauna of Bushehr Province intertidal zone at the Persian Gulf were identified following an investigation starting spring 2009 until winter 2011. Bushehr coastline is a 673.62 km stretch along the northern and northeastern coast of the Persian Gulf. Sampling took place from Deylam at Bushehr-Khuzestan borderlines, extending southeastward through Genaveh, Bushehr, Bolkheyr, Kabgan, Dayer and Nayband at Bushehr-Hormozgan provincial borderlines. A total of 87 gastropod species from 54 families were identified. The most frequent family with 7 spp. was Trochidae, followed by Strombidae (4 spp.), Pyramidellidae, Potamididae, Olividae and Epitoniidae (3 spp. each).The most frequent species was Planaxis sulcatus observed in all 7 stations, followed by Turitella fultoni, Thais mutabilis and Thais savignyi occurring in 6 stations. The Jaccard Similarity measure showed the highest similarity for Genaveh and Bushehr (0.818) and the lowest similarity for Genaveh and Deylam (0.152).This study provided the first comprehensive list of Gastropoda species occurring in Bushehr Province intertidal zones yet.