The identification, density and distribution of zooplankton in different depths of Southern Caspian Sea in 2009

Subject Areas : New Technologies in Aquaculture Development

Received: 2021-02-07 Accepted : 2021-02-07 Published : 2015-02-20

Keywords: Iran, biomass, Caspian Sea, Abundance, Keywords: Zooplankton,

Abstract :

Abstract[1] In this survey were studied identification, distribution, density and biomass of zooplankton (holoplankton) in 4 seasons and different depths in 2009. Samples were taken by plankton net (100 micron mesh) from 8 transects (from Astara to Turkmen port) and various depth (5 m, 10 m, 20 m, 50 m and 100 m) and were fixed with formalin 4%. In this survey, we identified 4 groups that including Copepoda, Rotatoria, Protozoa and Cladocera from holoplankton. The most abundance and biomass of zooplankton were 8743 ind/m3 and 38.71mg/m3 in spring (in 5m depth), 7924 ind/m3 and 71.23 mg/m3 in summer (in 10 m depth), 7773ind/m3 and 41.75 mg/m3 in autumn (in 5m depth) and 20025 ind/m3 and 323.80 mg/m3 in winter (in 5m depth). The abundance decreased from surface to deep depths. Non-parametric statistical analysis based on Kruskal-Wallis showed that there were significant differences between zooplankton abundance in different stations and depths in different seasons (P<0.05). * Corresponding Authors; Email: [e-mail]