Diversity and Abundance of Copepoda in the Northwestern Arabian Gulf

• Published in: Crustaceana. Supplement 1984-01 (7), p.326-335
• Main Authors: Michel, Harding B., Herring, Dane C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Coastal water; Demecology; Desert pavements; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genera; Gulfs; Nauplii; Plankton; Sea water; Summer; Surface water; Zooplankton
• ISSN: 0167-6563

During the period October 1979 - August 1980, the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, in cooperation with the University of Miami, Florida, supported a program of plankton sampling in the Arabian Gulf from the latitude of Kuwait to the Straits of Hormuz. This report concerns the copepods collected with a 110 μm mesh net at two stations in Kuwait Bay and 12 in Kuwaiti waters. Of the 40 genera and species recognized, 17 are new records for the Arabian Gulf, among them, Paracalanus crassirostris, the most numerous metazoan planktonic organism. Following it in abundance were Oithona spp., Temora turbinata, Euterpina acutifrons, Microsetella rosea, Corycaeus spp., Acrocalanus gibber, Acartia spp., Paracalanus aculeatus, and Oncaea conifera. The major groups occurred in proportions similar to those recorded elsewhere in tropical and subtropical seas: 53% Calanoida, 36% Cyclopoida, and 11% Harpacticoida. A factor analysis program indicated associations of six taxa in Kuwait Bay and nearshore coastal stations and of 11 taxa at offshore locations in Kuwaiti waters. Fluctuations in numbers of nauplii, copepodites, and adults showed that reproduction continues year-round, with maxima of most species occurring in summer, others in spring and fall, and many having secondary maxima after lapses of three to six months. Alternations in reproductive periods of dominant species may represent adaptations of this diverse population to an environment stressed by pollutants, high temperatures and salinities, and other factors.