Intermittent swarming of copepods in Versova mangrove, Mumbai
Abstract
Some zooplankton taxa like copepods, ostracods, ctenophores and medusae exhibit dense aggregations in a wide range of marine environment. Copepods have been frequently reported to occur in swarms from coral and mangrove ecosystems. This has been suggested as an adaptive advantage for feeding, propagation, protection and dispersal by currents. Copepod swarms are usually monospecific and are composed of adult and late stage copepodites. While studying the copepod composition of Versova mangrove, Mumbai, several instances of swarms of copepods were observed. Studies on copepods of mangrove from Indian coastal waters are few. The Versova mangrove is a shallow salt marsh along the tidal creek of Mumbai with a depth of about 1 to 1.5 m and has a width ranging from 30 to 40 m. The dominant vegetation of the swamp is the mangrove species Avicennia alba which has a height 1 meter. During flood tide flow of sea water towards the upsteam progressively inundates the creek and during extensive high tides even the swamps vegetation is submerged.
Collections
- Scholarly literature [8950]