Population studies of Cerithidea obtusa (Lamarck 1822) in mangrove forest Pangkal Babu, Tanjung Jabung Barat, Jambi

Snail Cerithidea obtusa has an important role in the mangrove ecosystem as a decomposer and this species generally serve as food in some Southeast Asian countries, especially in Indonesia. The research of the population studies the snail in the mangrove forest of Pangkal Babu was conducted in January to February 2012. In conducting the research, we divided the sites into 3 stations by using the Purposive Random Sampling. The average of density population ranges between 3.87-7.87 ind/m². The highest of average density population was founded in station 3, which was located in the back of the mangrove forest. It was dominated by plants of Avicennia sp. and Rhizophora sp. The snail has cluster spreading pattern. The shell length was measured between 1.8-4.4 cm, the weight was between 0.38-1.8 grams, and biomass ranges from 0.3-1.8 grams. The Spearman correlation test results indicated there was no correlation between the density of C. obtusa and abiotic parameters.