Zooplankton Abundance and Composition in Surf Zone of Gopalpur Port, East Coast of India-A Case Study

Zooplankton abundance, biomass and composition were studied by quantitative approach in coastal water of Gopalpur Port in two selected stations. From the study we recorded a total of 28 zooplankton groups/taxa of which the copepods formed the dominant group in both the stations. The other dominant groups were chaetognaths, decapod larvae, gastropods, bivalve larvae, cladocera, amphipod etc. In the study area, the maximum biomass at 11.9 ml/100m3 and the minimum at 8.6 ml/100m3 were recorded. The maximum and minimum densities of zooplankton were at 17389 Nos./100m3 and 13425 Nos./100m3 respectively. There was not any significant difference in zooplankton abundance between stations (p> 0.05) and within sampling months (p>0.05).