Collection and estimation of zooplankton

Varghese, Molly and Thomas, V J and Susan, V (2015) Collection and estimation of zooplankton. [Teaching Resource]

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Abstract

Zooplankters are the diverse, delicate and often very beautiful assemblages of animals that drift in the waters of the world oceans. The name zooplankton is derived from the Greek: Zoon, animal; planktos, wandering. They play a key role in the marine food web by transferring the organic energy produced by the unicellular algae to higher trophic levels such as pelagic stocks. Because of their critical role as food source for larval and juvenile fish, the dynamics of zooplankton populations, their reproductive cycles, growth and survival rates are all important factors influencing recruitment of fish stocks and thereby the magnitude of fishery. Majority of them are microscopic, unicellular or multicellular forms with size ranging from a few microns to a millimeter or more. In addition to size variations, there are differences in morphological features and taxonomic position. The zooplankton plays an important role to study the faunal biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems.

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