Research Journal of Recent Sciences ______ ______________________________ ______ ____ ___ ISSN 2277 - 2502 Vol. 1( 5 ), 62 - 65 , May (201 2 ) Res.J. Recent Sci. International Science Congress Association 62 Short Communication Zooplankton Composition in Dahanu Creek - West Coast of India Kadam S.S. 1 and Tiwari L.R. 2 1 N.B. Mehta Science college, Bordi, Tal., Dahanu, Dist., Thane, MS, INDIA 2 Maharshi Dayanand College Parel, Mumbai MS, INDIA Available online at: www.isca.in (Received 31 th January 2012 , revised 6 th March 2012 , accepted 24 th March 2012 ) Abstract The distribution and faunistic composition of zooplankton was studied during November 2008 and October 2009 from Dahanu creek - west coast of India. Geographical location of Dahanu is 19 0 58’ N and 72 0 44’E .Total 21 group of zooplankton were observed durin g the study period. Maximum species diversity was observed at station 1 (in open sea) and minimum at station 5 (in creek). Zooplankton biomass varied from 65.40 to 120.80 ml .100 m - 3 (average 80.94 ml. 100 m - 3 ) in the outer creek and 12.50 to 64.30 ml.100 m - 3 ( average 29.62 ml. 100 m - 3 ) in the inner creek area . Zooplankton biomass was highest in October at all stations however low biomass was recorded in July when the salinity decreased considerably. The dry weight of zooplankton ranged from 3.965 to 11. 830 gr.100 m - 3 (average 7.496 gr.100 m - 3 ) in outer creek and 1.280 to 5.932 gr.100 m - 3 (average 3.005 gr.100 m - 3 ) in inner creek area .The dry wet of zooplankton was maximum in October at all the stations and was minimum in July. Copepods, decapod larvae, egg mass, fish eggs, fish larvae, polychaete larvae, hydrozoans, tintinnids and chethognaths formed dominant groups of total zooplankton population. Key wards: Dahanu creek, zooplankton biomass, composition. I ntroduction Zooplankton is the myriads of floating and drifting animals with limited or no power of locomotion. It includes protozoan, jelly fishes, chaetognaths, worms, small crustaceans, egg and larvae of benthos and nekton. Majority of them feed on phytoplankton and facilitate t he conservation of plant material into the animal tissue and in turn constitute the basic food for higher animals .Their occurrence and distribution influence pelagic fishery potentials ( Zooplankton identification manual of National Institute of Oceanograp hy – Goa ). The zooplanktons are more varied as compared to phytoplankton their variability in any aquatic ecosystem is inf luenced majority by patchiness, diurnal vertical migration and season 1 . Zooplankton forms an important link in the marine food chain a s secondary producers. They play an important role in the conservation of energy from primary to secondary level 2 . Zooplankton is an important component of the pelagic community since it includes the major consumers of primary production. It plays an activ e role in the modification and remineralization of the particulate organic matter in the water column 3 . This paper briefly describes the zooplankton distribution of the Dahanu creek along the west coast of India and elaborates the decapods and copepod species composition. Material and Methods Zooplankton was sampled from November 2008 to October 2009 in Dahanu creek (19 0 58’ N and 72 0 44’E).Total five stations were selected for collection of zooplankton, three stations were in the open sea and two stations were in the creek. These stations covered an area of 20 km long and the depth varied from 5 to 26.5 meters ( f ig ure 1). The study pe riod lasted for 15 months. During this period, total 65 samples were collected for qualitative and quantitative evaluation of zooplankton. Zooplankton samples were collected by using H.T. net mesh size 0.3 µm and the collected zooplankton samples were kep t in 500 ml wide mouth plastic bottles having 4%formalin.The wet weight of the zooplankton was determined after washing the zooplankton with distilled water and thereafter filtering through filter paper. The dry weight of zooplankton was determined by drying the filtered samples in a hot air oven at 70 0 C till constant weight. The results were calculated as mg m - 3 of sea water. Zooplankton volume was measured by displacement method, in this method zooplankton were filtered and blotted with filter paper and mass was transferred to measuring cylinder having known volume of 4% formalin prepared in sea water. The rise in level of sea water in measuring cylinder was recorded. The difference between final and initial reading gave volume of zooplankton. The re sults were expressed as ml m - 3 . Zooplankton analysis was done using standard methods 4 and 5 . For identification of zooplankton published research paper were followed 6 - 12 . Research Journal of Recent Sciences ______ _ _ _______________________________ ______________ _ ______ _ ISSN 22 77 - 2502 Vol. 1(5), 62 - 65 , May (201 2 ) Res.J. Recent .Sci. International Science Congress Association 63 Results and Discussion Dahanu creek is fully rich with zooplankton community because about 20 to 30 tones marine fishes captured by local fishermen per year (Fish production report 2006 - 08). The important landings are Bombay duck, pomfrets, sienids, elas mobranchs, lobsters and prawns etc. Biotic features of Dahanu creek were influenced by the tides and monsoon. Total 21 groups of zooplankton were observed du ring the study period includingcopepods, decapods, eggmass, fisheggs, fishlarvae, polychaetelarvae, hydrozoans, tintinnids, chethognaths, pyrosomids, isopods, amphipods, mysids, meduceae, foraminiferans, gastropods, siphnophors, ctenophors, lucifer, cladoceras, bivalves, hydrozoans, ostracods, euphausids and echinoderms ( t able 1). Copepods, decapods, tintinnids, chaetognaths, fish eggs and fish larvae were observed at all the stations. Amphipods and euphausids were observed only at station 1. In addition to this echinoderms and ostracods were observed at station 3. The minimum number of group (13) duri ng the study period was observed at station 5 where as maximum group (19) at station 1.Zooplankton biomass was highest in October at all stations however low biomass was recorded in July when the salinity decreased considerably. Copepods usually maximum in number except July at station 1 and 3 when decapod larvae occurred in higher numbers. Zooplankton biomass ranged from 65.40 to 120.80 ml .100 m - 3 (average 80.94 ml. 100 m - 3 ) in the outer creek and 12.50 to 64.30 ml.100 m - 3 ( average 29.62 ml. 100 m - 3 ) in the inner creek area (Table 2 ). The dry weight of zooplankton ranged from 3.965gr.100 m - 3 to 11.830 gr.100 m - 3 (average 6.92 gr.100 m - 3 ) in outer creek and 1.280 to 5.932 gr.100 m - 3 (average). The dry wet of zooplankton was maximum in October at all the stations and was minimum in July ( t able 3 ). The minimum fresh weights, dry weight, volume of zooplankton were observed in July at station 5 that was in the creek. This was probably due to presence of suspended solids in sea water. The high productivity in terms of fresh weight, dry weight and volume of zooplankton was observed at station 1 in October . Total population of zooplankton in the outer creek area was varied from 475350 to 1182160 (no.100 - 3 ) and inner creek was 12576 0 to 678640 (no.100 - 3 ) t able - 3. Copepods was more abundant in all zooplankton community both in open sea and creek, copepod species including Eucalanus sp., Paracalanus sp.,Euchaeta sp., Centropages sp., Lucicutia sp., Pontella sp., Pleuromamma sp . were present in zooplankton collection. The second largest group in zooplankton community was decapod larvae including Zoea and Brachvura . Most marine animal - phyla from poriferans to chordates are represented in the plankton, many species are holopl anktonic i.e. they live permanently in the pelagic habitat. The study of marine zooplankton ecology demands considerable efforts from scientific and technological standpoint 13 . Figure - 1 Location of sampling stations Research Journal of Recent Sciences ______ _ _ _______________________________ ______________ _ ______ _ ISSN 22 77 - 2502 Vol. 1(5), 62 - 65 , May (201 2 ) Res.J. Recent .Sci. International Science Congress Association 64 Table - 1 Monthly variation in zooplankton total population (no.100 - 3 ) and dominant groups at 5 different stations of Dahanu creek west coast of India Months Outer creek Inner creek Dominant groups Station 1 Station 2 Station 3 Station 4 Station 5 Nov.08 690430 766780 475350 125760 622870 Cope,deca,chaet, Tin,poly,hydro, F and L Dec.08 908200 795130 985340 324850 140580 Cope,deca,chaet, Tin,poly,hydro,F and L Jan.09 983270 690840 923420 177440 126780 Cope,deca,chaet, Tin,poly,hydro,F & L Feb.09 805430 1084320 634280 178650 252240 Cope,deca,chaet, Tin,poly,hydro,F & L Mar.09 774520 927230 698050 126930 678640 Cope,deca,chaet, Tin,poly,hydro,F & L Apr.09 704360 838270 892650 325450 387460 Cope,deca,chaet, Tin,poly,hydro,F & L May 09 698420 523470 865090 568780 496510 Cope,deca,chaet, Tin,poly,hydro,F & L June 09 1034280 949830 732090 318750 237640 Cope,deca,chaet, Tin,poly,hydro,F & L July 09 684220 498060 423170 304520 166430 Deca,cope,chaet,poly,tin,F&L Aug.09 824560 597640 889660 854200 316590 Cope,deca,chaet, Tin,poly,hydro,F & L Sep.09 657120 876350 598760 597620 154360 Cope,deca,chaet, Tin,poly,hydro,F & L Oct.09 1182160 1036570 889750 342180 453270 Cope,deca,chaet, Tin,poly,hydro,F & L Cope = Copepods,Deca = Decapods, Chaet = chaetognaths, Tin = tintinnids, Hydro = Hydrozoans, Poly = Polychaet larvae , F & L = Fish eggs/larvae. Table – 2 Monthly variation in zooplankton biomass (ml.100 - 3 ) at 5 different stations of Dahanu creek west coast of India Outer creek Inner creek Months Station 1 Station 2 Station 3 Station 4 Station 5 Nov.08 65.5 74.00 43.00 12.5 36.00 Dec. 08 52.20 80.00 92.50 24.80 26.00 Jan.09 90.50 68.20 91.50 24.00 14.50 Feb.09 84.00 108.00 62.00 19.00 37.20 Mar.09 78.20 90.50 74.80 14.00 64.30 Apr.09 68.50 84.20 89.20 30.50 40.00 May 09 70.80 60.80 88.00 60.80 52.20 June 09 105.20 90.00 72.80 34.30 24.20 July 09 76.50 52.80 45.20 32.00 19.50 Aug.09 86.20 66.50 92.50 16.00 32.80 Sep.09 67.50 88.50 67.00 20.00 16.20 Oct.09 120.80 106.50 94.00 36.80 42.50 Table – 3 Monthly variation in zooplankton dry weight (gr.100 - 3 ) at 5 different stations of Dahanu creek west coast of India Outer creek Inner creek Months Station 1 Station 2 Station 3 Station 4 Station 5 Nov.08 6.360 7.856 4.342 1.280 3.540 Dec. 08 4.960 7.540 8.867 2.760 2.132 Jan.09 8.563 5.628 9.108 2.652 1.312 Feb.09 7.950 9.850 5.756 2.432 2.920 Mar.09 6.890 8.754 6.976 1.876 5.932 Apr.09 6.420 7.853 8.123 3.912 3.866 May 09 6.872 5.673 8.543 5.442 4.929 June 09 9.960 8.950 7.543 2.991 2.902 July 09 7.240 4.865 3.965 2.862 2.231 Aug.09 8.230 5.660 8.975 1.992 2.950 Sep.09 5.967 7.960 5.876 2.120 1.820 Oct.09 11.830 10.540 9.542 3.432 3.923 Research Journal of Recent Sciences ______ _ _ _______________________________ ______________ _ ______ _ ISSN 22 77 - 2502 Vol. 1(5), 62 - 65 , May (201 2 ) Res.J. Recent .Sci. International Science Congress Association 65 Conclusion The present investigation suggests that Dahahu creek is fully rich with zooplankton and supported a diverse community. The zooplankton species which occur during the high saline period tolerate wide salinity fluctuati ons. The present baseline information on the zooplankton is useful for preparing data sheet on fish production report of Dahanu area. The present report on zooplankton provides the baseline information for future ecological assessment and monitoring of the Dahanu coastal area. Acknowledgments The authors are grateful to Dr. John T. Eapen, Scientist - In - Charge of M.E. Eapen Institute of Science and Technology for Community Development (MEEISATCODE), Dahanu for his constant encouragements and guidance. Mr. S .S. Kadam is grateful to University of Mumbai for the financial assistance rendered to him under minor research project scheme. References 1. 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