Potential sources of impacts linked to ciliate epibiont occurrence on the macrobenthic invertebrates in the Coringa Mangrove Ecosystem: Preliminary documentation

Climate change and anthropogenic interventions have extensively impacted marine ecosystems. Monitoring ciliate species can provide valuable insights into the health of estuarine and coastal ecosystems. This study characterized environmental parameters and their relation to ciliate epibionts on macrobenthos in the Coringa Mangrove-Bay-Coastal Ecosystem (CMBCE). Water quality in the area has undergone significant changes over the past few decades. We found considerable salinity, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, and organic matter variability across sampling sites. The broad range of carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in sediments indicates multiple sources of organic matter, including marine plankton, macroalgae, C3 and C4 plants, and from sewage input. Moreover, we identified six species of epibionts on benthic invertebrates (host) and the environmental factors that best correlated with epibiont colonization. This study provides the preliminary documentation of such associations in the CMBCE.