Abundance and distribution of zooplankton in the South China Sea, Area III: Western Philippines

Abstract

A survey on the zooplankton in the waters of western Philippines was carried out from April 18 to May 9, 1998. The estimate of zooplankton biomass ranged from 0.92 mg/m³ to 20.85 mg/m³ with a mean of 5.70 mg/m³. Maximum and minimum densities of zooplankton recorded were 4683/m³ in station 16 and 446/m³ in station 5, respectively. The zooplankton communities were comprised of 37 different categories of animal groups. Copepods were the most dominant group in zooplankton communities at all stations but their abundance varied from 5% to 43% of the total zooplankton.