Plankton Composition in the Coastal Waters between Jaigarh and Rajapur along West Coast of India

Abstract

Diatoms dominated the phytoplankton population in the Konkan coastal waters. Rhizosolenia spp., Ceratulinia sp., Ditylum spp., Navicula sp. and Thalassiothrix spp. were the dominant diatoms observed in this area. Blue-green algae and flagellates were moderately represented in the collections. Dinoflagellates were observed to be poor in this region. The area south of Ganapatipule was relatively rich in zooplankton and the highest biomass recorded off Ratnagiri was 55.6 ml/100 m3. Copepoda, Mollusca, Decapoda, Chaetognatha, Tunicata and fish eggs and larvae were the major groups in the zooplankton population. The highest secondary production values were obtained off Ratnagiri and the average production for the Konkan coastal waters was found to be 262.32 mgC/100 m3. Abundance of bivalve and decapod larvae in the coastal waters indicate the potential fishery resources of these groups in the central west coast of India