Marine Zooplankton Community Composition
Table __ shows the summary of species composition of zooplankton community in reclaimed
coastal area of Simlong, Batangas. A total of 18 species were documented. These planktonic organisms
were distributed into 1 species of annelid, 2 species of cladoceran, 1 species of cnidarian, 4 species of
copepods, 1 species of phoronid, 1 species unknown platyhelminthes , 4 species of protozoa, 3 species
rotifers and 1 species of tunicate. It was observed that the most abundant and frequent occurring
species were copepods with relative abundance of 64.674%, followed by calanoid with relative
abundance of 14.867%, cyclopoid with 8.163% and harpacticoid with 1.385%. Abundance of copepods is
best ascribed to their variety of reproductive strategies they exhibit to recompense for losses to their
populations (Turner, 2004). These include having high fecundity and growth rates at warmer
Table __. Species composition, relative abundance and relative frequency of zooplankton in Simlong
Batangas
Taxa
Annelida
1. Polychaeta
Cladocera
2. Diaphanosoma sp.
3. Moina sp.
Cnidaria
4. Obelia sp.
Copepoda
5. Calanoid
6. Cyclopoid
7. Harpacticoid
8. Nauplius
Phoronida
9. Phoronid sp.
Platyhelminthes
10. Unknown sp.1
Protozoa
11. Acanthometron sp.
12. Discorbis sp.
13. Globigerina sp.
14. Tintinnid sp.
Rotifera
15. Filinia sp.
16. Keratella sp.
17. Lepadella sp.
Tunicata
18. Oikopleura sp.
RA – Relatively Abundance
RF – Relative Frequency
Abundance (individuals/m3)
Station 1
Station 2
Station 3
RA
(%)
RF
(%)
35
212
0
0.765
70
24
0
0
36
0
0
0.073
0.109
30
30
0
36
0
0.109
30
684
589
365
3, 678
1 603
979
83
7 298
2 522
1 073
0
10 917
14.867
8.163
1.385
67.674
100
100
70
100
0
36
0
0.109
30
71
71
0
0.437
70
35
0
141
189
83
35
11
35
212
0
71
0
1.020
0.109
0.692
0.692
100
30
100
70
165
35
0
0
0
531
0
0
483
0.510
0.109
3.134
30
30
70
12
0
0
0.036
30
temperatures. They also tend regulate their motion and respiration at lower rates that allows
investment of more energy for reproduction, maximizing their lifetime reproductive output. These
characters allow copepods to increase their abundance even during unfavorable conditions. In
connection with this, the copepod nauplius is the most abundant (67.674%) among the zooplankton
taxa in the marine community. The high abundance of these young forms of copepods is generally result
of the continuous reproduction of these organisms (Neves et al., 2003). Also, nauplius represent all
copepod species at larval stage, which most likely the reason of their abundance within study site. This
finding is further supported by the relative abundance of copepods in the community which account
92.091% (figure __).
Among the zooplankton species collected nauplius (67.674%) and calanoid (14.867%) were the
most abundant species. According to Gannon and Stemberger (1978) and Maier (1996) presence and
abundance of calanoid is an indicator of eutrophic aquatic system. Whereas in the study of Fines (2012),
calanoid species, Calanus finmarchicus turned out to be an indicator species for oil pollution since these
copepod can accumulate oil in its system without drastically decrease in their population. On the other
hand, abundance of nauplius is also associated with high level of eutrophication due to their wide range
of trophic level index (Patalas, 1972 and Gannon and Stemberger 1978). Water condition of Simlong
Batangas satisfies these water quality condition in which anthropogenic disturbance along the coastal
area is rampant that can be possibly the cause of eutrophication in the area. Moreover, the industrial
corporation in the periphery of the coastal area adds oil pollutant in the seawater that could deteriorate
the water quality of the coastal sea. Considering the presence of indicator species and the observed
anthropogenic disturbance in the area it is then determined that the coastal of Simlong Batangas is
experiencing eutrophication and pollution.
9
0.036
8
0.036
7
6
3.754
2.515
5
0.437
4
0.109
92.091
3
2
0.109
1
0.948
1 – Annelida, 2 – Cladocera, 3 – Cnidaria, 4 – Copepoda,
5 – Phoronida, 6 – Platyhelminthes, 7 – Protozoa, 8 – Rotifera,
9 - Tunicata
Figure __. Relative abundance of major zooplankton group in Simlong, Batangas
Zooplankton Community Characteristics
Table __ shows the summary of the community characteristics of zooplankton present
in Simlong, Batangas during the sampling period. A total of forty eighteen (18) taxa of
zooplankton were documented all throughout the study site. Highest number of taxa was
observed in Station 2 (S=14), followed by Station 1 (S=13), and Station 3 (S=6), respectively.
Perceptible differences may be due to the distant location of Station 2 from anthropogenic
disturbance. Station 3 is situated near the residential area and is more likely exposed to human
disturbances and receives more effluents from various anthropogenic activities whereas station
1 is situated near the reclaimed powerplant area. The computed values of dominance was
highest in Station 3 (D=0.544) and lowest in Station 1 (D=0.402). Low overall value for
dominance indicates that no taxa severely dominated the community. Conversely, values of
Shannon-Wiener index (H’) and Simpson’s Diversity index (1-D) was highest in Station 2
(H’=1.196; 1-D=0.532) and lowest in Station 3 (H’=0.918; 1-D=0.456). The computed overall
value for zooplankton was low (H’=1.169; 1-D=0.512), which can be directly attributed to be
human stressor the coastal region receives. Lastly, the calculated value for evenness (E=0.179)
was high which means that the individuals in the study site are evenly distributed among the
different species.
Table __. Community characteristics of zooplankton in Simlong, Batangas
Station
1
2
3
Overall
Margalef’s
Species
Richness (S)
13
14
6
18
Dominance
(D)
0.402
0.468
0.544
0.488
ShannonWiener Index
(H’)
1.417
1.196
0.918
1.169
Simpson’s
Diversity
Index (1-D)
0.598
0.532
0.456
0.512
Evenness (E)
0.317
0.236
0.417
0.179
Literature Cited:
Turner, J. T. 2004. The importance of small planktonic copepods and their roles in pelagic marine food
webs. Zoological Studies 43(2): 255-266
Neves, I. F., O. Rocha, K. Roche and A. A. Pinto. 2003. Zooplankton Community Structure of Two
Marginal Lakes of the River Cuiabá (Mato Grosso, Brazil) with Analysis of Rotifera and Cladocera
Diversity. Braz. J. Biol., 63(2): 329-343
Maier, G. 1996. Copepod communities in lakes of varying trophic degree. Arch. Hydrobiol. 136: 455–465.
Gannon, J.E. and Stemberger, R.S. 1978. Zooplankton (especially crustaceans and rotifers) as indicators
of water quality. Trans. Am. Microsc. Soc., 97:16-35
Patalas, K. 1972. Crustacean plankton communities in forty- five lakes in the experimental lakes area,
northwestern Ontario. J. Fish. Res. Bd. Can. 28: 231-244.
Fites, I. 2012. Effects of Crude Oil Water Accommodated Fractions (WAF) on the Escape Behaviour in
Calanus finmarchicus Gunnerus (Copepoda). Norwegian University of Science and Technology,
Department of Biology