Sample collection: Sediment samples were collected following the methods described by Sasekumar (1985) and Home
and McIntyre (1971) for the benthic study of a mangrove ecosystem. Monthly 9 samples were taken for a period of one
years from January to December 2006 during low tides. Three samples of sediment were collected from low, mid and
high tidal zone from each transect using an iron box corer with the height 35cm and internal diameter of 0.045 m2. The
box corer was penetrated up to a depth of12-15 cm depending on the porosity of the sediment. The sediment samples
were brought to the open side of Sandspit beach for washing and sieving.