Community composition and diversity of zooplankton in the northwest Persian Gulf

Survey on zooplankton composition was studied during June 2015 to March 2016, by selecting six stations along the coastal waters of Bushehr (the Northwest Persian Gulf). Twenty four zooplankton taxa were identified, and the different zooplankton groups represented twenty-one families. Copepoda was recorded with the most abundance (53.30 %) followed by Malacostraca (32.87 %), which in turn was followed by Sagittoidea (7.44 %) and Appendicularia (6.39%). A major peak of 189.34 N/m3 was observed in February-2016 with 53.25% contribution from Copepoda. Among Copepoda, Labidocera sp. was the major contributor to this peak. Appendicularia was the comparatively less represented group, being chiefly represented by Oikopleura dioica.  Labidocera sp., Oithona  plumifera which were common in most of the stations. This common distribution were observed for Malacostraca, namely Lucifer hanseni (mysis I), Upogebia sp. (zoea I), Parthenope sp., Ilyoplax frater( zoea VI), for Sagittoidea, namely Sagitta enflata, Sagitta neglecta and for Appendicularia, namely Oikopleura dioica. The mean Shannon's diversity index (H') and evenness were 1.36±0.43 and, 0.68±1.17, respectively. The highest Margalef's index was recorded in station-6 (2.72±1.32) and the lowest in station-2 (1.98±0.89). According to non-significant differences between temporal and spatial zooplankton density and Shannon’s index, from an ecological point of view, it seems the study area is unique and the zooplankton composition is homogenous