Zooplankton diversity in certain ponds of CuddaloreDistrict of Tamilnadu, India

ABSTRACT A study on zooplankton species diversity in 5 fresh water ponds of Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu, India.Theplankton samples were collected (January, 2009 - June, 2009) from 5 different fresh water ponds.Zooplankton invariably forms an integral component of freshwater communities and contributes significantly to biological productivity. It is form an important food component for various aquatic animals and helps to transfer energy from primary to secondary and tertiary levels in the form of food chain. The freshwater ponds infested with dense growth of aquatic vegetation of various submerged, floating and emergent types, providing diverse habitats for different faunal communities. The identified zooplankton were, Rotifers comprises 9 species (36%), Cladocera -6 (24%), Copepoda -7 (28%) and Ostrocoda -3 (12%). In this study, the dominant species were Rotifers and followed by Cladocera. The zooplankton diversity analysis shows an average abundance in winter and maximum occurrence in summer due to the different environmental characteristic s of the fresh water body. Keywords:Zooplankton, diversity, freshwater ponds, Cuddalore district. REFERENCES Abdus, Saboor.,&Altaff, K. 1995. Qualitative and Quantitative analysis of zooplankton population of tropical pond during summer and rainy season. J Eco Biol, 7(4), 269–275. Altaff, K. 2003. A manual of Zooplankton. Department of Zoology, The New College, Chennai. A.P.H.A. 1992. Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater (18th ed). American Public Health Association, Washington D. C. Khan M.A. 1987. Observations on zooplankton composition, abundance and periodicity in two flood plain lakes of the Kashmir Himalayan valley. ActaHydrochemicaHydrobiologia15: 167–174. Khan, R.A. 2003. Faunal diversity of zooplankton in freshwater wetlands of Southeastern West Bengal. Records of the Zoological Survey of India, Occasional Paper No. 204: 1–107. Kumar, K. S. 2001. Studies on the freshwater copepods and cladocerans of Dharmapuri Dist. Tamil Nadu. J. Aqua. Biol, 16(1&2), 5-10. Sharma, B.K. &Hussain, M.D. 2001. Abundance and Ecology of Zooplankton in a tropical floodplain lake, Assam (N. E. India). Ecology, Environment& Conservation, 7(4): 397-403. Sharma, B.K. 1998. Freshwater Rotifers (Rotifera :Eurotatoria). In: Fauna of West Bengal. State FaunaSeries, 3(11): 341-461. Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta. Yadava, Y.S. &Dey, S.C. 1990. Impact of physicochemical complexes on plankton density on Dhirbeel of Assam. Limnologica (Berlin), 21: 287-292.