Zooplankton Assemblages in Spatial Stretches of a Tropical Estuary

Present study embodies the spatial variations in zooplankton species dispersal and copepod community structure in the near mouth, away from the mouth, mid estuarine and upstream region of the Mandovi estuary.Overall 35 copepod species were identified in the 4 spatial demarcation of the estuary.Cluster analysis revealed the upstream zooplankton community were remarkably different from the near shore and mid estuarine regions.In the similar conext, upstream water represented Diaptomus sp., Acartiella sp., Heliodiaptomus cinctus and Cyclops sp.abundantly while Paracalanus parvus, Paracalanus aculeatus and Oithona similis were characterising near mouth of the estuary.The mid estuarine location revealed higher abundance of Acrocalanus longicornis and Oithona brevicornis.The SIMPER analysis confirmed the influence of environmental factors on the zooplankton community distribution at a spatial distinction, where Salinity was the maximum contributor (93-94%) in differentiating these environmental settings.