PHYSICO-CHEMICAL PARAMETERS AND ZOOPLANKTON DIVERSITY OF A TEMPLE POND IN VIRUDHUNAGAR,

The plankton constitutes the basic food sources of any aquatic ecosystem, which supports fish and other aquatic animals. Zooplankton diversity is one of the most important ecological parameters in water quality assessment. Zooplankton is good indicator of the changes in water quality because they are strongly affected by environmental conditions and respond quickly to changes in water quality. They occupy an intermediate link between phytoplankton and fish. Hence qualitative and quantitative studies of zooplankton are of great importance. In the present paper, Zooplankton diversity in relation to physico-chemical parameters was studied. This investigation revealed that 17 species of zooplankton belonging to four major groups i.e. 10 species of Rotifera, three species each of Cladocera and Copepoda and one species of Ostracoda.