Bivalves Diversity and Abundance in the Coastal Waters: An Environmental Pollution Monitoring Measure

This study aims to determine the species, diversity, abundance, and the correlation between water physical-chemical factors and the number of bivalves found. It serves as one of the approaches to biodiversity conservation, environmental quality monitoring, and the sustainable management of aquatic resources, particularly in monitoring the condition of water bodies resulting from river water pollution caused by industrial waste and household waste. There were three bivalve sampling stations, each with three substations, which were purposively determined in Banyuurip Village, Ujungpangkah District, Gresik Regency, Indonesia. Sampling was done by dredging using a garit (trawl). The data analysis in this study included the Shannon index, dominance index, species abundance, and Pearson correlation analysis. The results showed that 10 species of bivalves had a diversity index of 2.019 at Station 1 (mangrove area) and 2.246 at Station 2 (marine intertidal zone). In contrast, Station 3 [Perna viridis (Linnaeus, 1758). rack culture area] amounted to 2.226. The dominance index value of Station 1, amounted to 0.1703, Station 2, amounted to 0.1108, and Station 3, amounted to 0.1136. The highest abundance of bivalve species was obtained by Anadara granosa (Linnaeus, 1758), with a value of 449.3 ind. m-³. The pH ranged from 7.13 to 7.87, temperature from 27 °C to 27.6 °C, salinity from 14.03 ‰ to 17.67 ‰, and dissolved oxygen (DO) from 5 mg L-¹ to 5.9 mg L-¹. Correlation analysis results showed that pH was strongly negatively correlated with A. consociata (Gray, 1847) (121), temperature was strongly positively correlated with Paphia undulata (Born, 1778) (91), salinity was strongly negatively correlated with A. consociata (Gray, 1847) (121), and DO was strongly negatively correlated with A. granosa (Linnaeus, 1758) (184). Future research is encouraged to expand the spatial and temporal coverage of sampling to obtain a more holistic understanding of bivalve diversity, population dynamics, and their ecological interactions with environmental parameters. Additionally, research efforts should address aspects of food safety by minimizing the presence of metals and microplastics, aligning with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3, 6, and 14. This is particularly important since bivalves represent a potential alternative source of essential amino acids and omega-3 fatty acids for human nutrition.