Temporal variations of mesozooplankton abundance and biomass in the mangrove creek area along the Karachi coast, Pakistan

The temporal variations of mesozooplankton abundance and biomass (1-Volumetric method by settling volume and displacement volume and 2- Gravimetric method through wet weight, dry weight and ash-free dry weight) with relation to environmental parameters were studied in the mangrove creek area of Karachi coast, Pakistan. The data of mesozooplankton samples along with environmental parameters (temperature, salinity, pH, etc.) were collected during January 1998 to December 1998 from two creek stations. The abundance of mesozooplankton also exhibited seasonal trends at both stations. At Sta. S2, the highest and lowest abundance values were observed during post-monsoon and southwest monsoon respectively whereas, at Sta. S1, a clear trend of high abundance in pre-monsoon to low abundance in southwest monsoon was observed. Mesozooplankton abundance was also positively correlated with settling volume, displacement volume, wet weight and dry weight. The highest biomass value was observed in the northeast monsoon and pre-monsoon periods. The results of the canonical analysis of the output from the discriminate function was tested. Out of fifteen variables, only one was significantly different in single character ratios dry weight/ash free-dry weight (F_3,23=4.78, P<0.005). The mesozooplankton community was collectively composed of 28 taxa. Among these groups, copepoda (66.3%), gastropod larvae (9.94%), evadne (4.60%), zoea (3.60%), cypris nauplii (2.56%), lemellibranch larvae (1.87%), chaetognaths (1.81%), ostracods (1.73%), lucifer (1.15%) and barnacles nauplii (1.35%) contributed the most to the similarities within Sta. S1, while copepoda (74.68%), cypris nauplii (5.29%), gastropods (4.87%), barnacles nauplii (4.81%), evadne (1.72%), zoea (1.53%) and caridean larvae (1.18%) at Sta. S2. The remaining mesozooplanktonic group were accounted for less than 5% and 6% at Sta. S1 and Sta. S2 respectively, of the total organisms. Similarity percentage (SIMPER) analysis revealed that copepoda, gastropod larvae and cyprus nauplii contributed most of the similarities within Sta. S2 along Sta. S1.