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THE ABUNDANCE OF ZOOPLANKTON IN THE WATERS OFF
PORT DICKSON, STRAITS OF MALACCA
SYAZANA LYANA BINTI MOHD SOOPIE
Supervisor: Prof Dr. Othman bin Haji Ross
Bachelor of Science (Marine Science)
School of Marine Science and Environmental Science
Quantitative research on the abundance, composition and diversity of zooplankton at
a fixed station in Port Dickson, Straits of Malacca for 11 consecutive months. The
samples were collected horizontally using a conical plankton net with a mesh size of
140 µm with a flowmeter attached to record the volume of seawater filtered. A total
of 21 zooplankton genera were identified, including 14 genera of copepods. The
copepods were the most dominant taxa with the highest percentage in every month;
the highest relative abundance was 99.2% in December 2013. The dominant genera
among the copepods were Paracalanus, Oithona, Euterpina and Corycaeus. The
zooplankton abundance during the Northeast monsoon is higher compared with
Southwest monsoon. However, the diversity of zooplankton was higher during
Southwest monsoon than Northeast monsoon. It is suggested that the abundance,
composition and diversity of zooplankton in Straits of Malacca are affected by the
presence of monsoon season.
1920 | UMT UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH DAY 2018