Biomass, organic carbon and calorific content of zooplankton from the Arabian Sea off Central West coast of India

Abstract

Organic carbon content and calorific values of zooplankton varied from 18.35 to 32.49% (av. 27.8%) and from 2.56 to 4.71 k cal. g-1 dry wt (av. 3.99) respectively. Areawise off Gujarat sustained higher standing stock of zooplankton (77.18 mg m-3) than off Goa and Maharashtra. Zooplankton production in terms of dry weight and carbon equivalent suggested comparable pattern of distribution