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Seasonal variations in the structure of copepod assemblages in tropical marine and estuarine waters, Coleroon, south-east India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2013

M. Rajkumar ,
Jun Sun ,
I. R. Jenkinson  and
M.M. Rahman
M. Rajkumar
Affiliation:
Centre of Advanced Study in Marine Biology, Annamalai University, Parangipettai–608502, Tamil Nadu, India Institute of Oceanography and Maritime Studies, International Islamic University Malaysia, Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, Bandar Indera Mahkota, 25200 Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia
Jun Sun
Affiliation:
College of Marine Science and Engineering, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, No. 29 13th Avenue, TEDA, Tianjin, 300 457, P.R. China
I. R. Jenkinson*
Affiliation:
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, 7, Nanhai Road, Qingdao 266071, P.R. China Agency for Consultation and Research in Oceanography, Lavergne, 19320 La Roche Canillac, France
M.M. Rahman
Affiliation:
Institute of Oceanography and Maritime Studies, International Islamic University Malaysia, Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, Bandar Indera Mahkota, 25200 Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia Department of Biotechnology, Kulliyyah of Science, International Islamic University Malaysia, Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, Bandar Indera Mahkota, 25200 Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Dr I.R. Jenkinson, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, 7, Nanhai Road, Qingdao 266071, P.R. China and Agency for Consultation and Research in Oceanography, Lavergne, 19320 La Roche Canillac, France email: ianjenkinson@qdio.ac.cn; ian.jenkinson1@gmail.com
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Abstract

A twelve-month investigation was undertaken on how copepod community structure varied in relation to environmental factors in the Coleroon estuary, south-east India. Sampling was monthly, from Station 1 in the sea to Station 4 in the Vettar backwaters. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was applied to elucidate the environmental factors affecting the copepod community. A total of 104 copepod species in 38 genera and 26 families were recorded, with the Calanoids, Acartia erythraea and Oithona brevicornis being the most dominant. At all four stations, both these species loaded near the intercept of CCA axes 1 and 2, perhaps reflecting that they were autochthonous. Most species occurred in distinct seasonal patterns. Abundances ranged from 13 × 103 to 215 × 103 (ind. m−3). Coleroon waters showed high diversity (bits/ind.), from 5.29 at Station 3 to 4.97 at Station 4. Abundance correlated positively with temperature and salinity and negatively with rainfall, dissolved oxygen concentration (DO) and pH. Species diversity correlated strongly with abundance (P < 0.01). Abundance and diversity were highest during the summer, and both correlated positively with salinity. Temperatures (air and water), salinity, pH and DO varied in the ranges 26–36°C, 25–34.2°C, 9–38, 7.0–8.7 and 3.0–6.8 ml l-1, respectively. Nitrate, nitrite, phosphate and silicate (µM) varied in the ranges: 4.7–64.5, 0.4–14.1, 0.2–12.9 and 9.3–148, respectively.

Keywords

copepodsspecies compositioncommunity structurehydrological variablestropical estuary

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 94 , Issue 3 , May 2014 , pp. 521 - 535
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2013 

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