The Crustacean Zooplankton Abundance and Population Density in Bhatye Creek, Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, India (original) (raw)

The crustacean zooplankton abundance and population density in Bhatye creek, Ratnagiri was studied during February 2016 to January 2017.A total 23 species of crustacean zooplankton belonging to 18 families 20 genera were recorded. The highest abundance were represented by order Calanoida11 species each contributingabout48% by composition; followed by6 species of order harpacticoida (26%), 2 species of order cyclopoida (9%), 2 species of order poecilostomatoida (9%), diplostraca (4%) and decapoda (4%) in Bhatye creek. The analysis of results clearly showed a significant positive correlation amongst crustacean zooplankton except order decapoda'r' value at (p<0.01) level. Hence it revealed that the crustacean zooplankton abundance was well distributed in Bhatye creek except order decapoda, which showed spatial discontinuity in abundance. decapod larvae, appendicularia, invertebrate eggs and fish larvae. They play crucial role in the food chain and energy flow in the aquatic ecosystem through interlinking the autotrophs and heterotrophs. Thus, it has been considered as bio-indicator and meaningful biological tool for assessing the trophic status of the aquatic environment. As crustacean zooplankton was qualitatively and quantitatively important group in zooplankton taxon with regard to their abundance in creek. Saravana kumaret. al., (2007) reported a total of 69 species of which copepods formed the dominant group in different creekwater bodies, along western mangrove of Kutch, west coast of India. Hence, to understand the secondary and tertiary productivity, it is desirable that the systematic of the crustacean zooplankton is known. Milindet. al., (2011) also investigated the response of the crustacean zooplankton community in improving water quality. They found that cyclopoids populations strongly decreased in freshwater while cladocerans did not change their abundance. Although much work has been done all over the world; but crustacean zooplankton in creek, west coast of India is less well-studied. Only few reports on the zooplankton of creek water accessible from coastal population centres. Under estuarine conditions a freshwater zooplankton assemblage would be unlikely to survive, however may provide short-term food resources for, for example, estuarine macro-invertebrates or juvenile fish. Consequent upon this, there is a need for information on the dynamics of crustacean zooplankton diversity in the Bhatye creek of Ratnagiri coast.The phyla of zooplankton (Crustacea) were encountered during this investigation with the former being more diverse and abundance.