Abstract
An account of the chaetognath and ostracod species obtained from zooplankton samples collected along a transect in the Western Indian Ocean between 9° N–20° S and 57° 18′–68° 43′E in January–February 1981 is given. Species richness was maximum north of 10° S. The latitudinal variation of thirteen species of chaetognaths indicated that many of the typical Indo-Pacific species are restricted to the tropical zone with limited penetration into the subtropical region. All the sixteen species of planktonic ostracods were cosmopolitan. Based on the available information on the distribution of chaetognaths and ostracods, the species assemblages in the Indian Ocean are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alvariño, A., 1964. The Chaetognatha of the Monsoon Expedition. Pacif. Sci. 18: 336–348.
Alvariño, A., 1965. Chaetognaths. Oceanogr. Mar. Biol. Ann. Rev. 3: 115–194.
Alvariño, A., 1970. Zooplankton of the tropico-equatorial oceanic regions. Act. IV Latin American Congress of Zoology. 2: 395–426.
Alvariño, A., 1974. The importance of the Indian Ocean as origin of the species and biological link uniting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. J. mar. biol. Ass. India. 14(2): 713–722.
Angel, M. V., 1979. Studies on Atlantic halocyprid ostracods: Their vertical distributions and community structure in the central gyre region along latitude 30° N from off Africa to Bermuda. In M. V. Angel & J. O'Brien (eds.), Progress in Oceanography. 8: Pergamon Press, Oxford.
Angel, M. V., M. J. R. Fasham, 1975. Analysis of the vertical distribution and geographic distribution of the abundant species of planktonic ostracods in the north east Atlantic. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 55: 709–737.
Deevey, G., 1968. Pelagic ostracods of the Sargasso Sea off Bermuda. Bull. Peabody. Mus. nat. Hist. 26: 1–125.
Fasham, M. J. R. & M. V. Angel, 1975. The relationship of the zoogeographic distributions of the planktonic ostracods in the north east Atlantic to the water masses. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 55: 739–757.
George, J., K. S. Purushan & M. Madhupratap, 1975. Distribution of planktonic ostracods along the south west coast of India. Indian J. mar. Sci. 4: 201–202.
George, J. & V. R. Nair, 1980. Planktonic ostracods of the northern Indian Ocean. Mahasagar-Bull. natn. Inst. Oceanogr. 13: 29–44.
Madhupratap, M., Zooplankton standing stock and diversity along an oceanic track in the western Indian Ocean: Mahasagar-Bull. natn. Inst. Oceanogr. (in press).
Madhupratap, M., C. T. Achythankutty, S. R. S. Nair, 1981. Major crustacean groups and zooplankton diversity around Andaman — Nicobar islands. Indian J. mar. Sci. 10: 266–269.
Nair, S. R. S., V. R. Nair, C. T. Achuthankutty & baM. Madhupratap, 1981. Zooplankton composition and diversity in Western Bay of Bengal. J. Plankton Res. 3: 493–508.
Nair, V. R., 1974. Distribution of chaetognaths along the salinity gradient in the Cochin backwater, an estuary connected to the Arabian Sea. J. mar. biol. Ass. India 16: 721–730.
Nair, V. R., 1977. Chaetognaths of the Indian Ocean. Proc. Symp. Warm Water Zoopl. Spl. Publ. UNESCO/NIO. 168–195.
Nair, V. R., 1978. Bathymetric distribution of chaetognaths in the Indian Ocean. Indian J. mar. Sci. 7: 276–282.
Nair, V. R., C. T. Achuthankutty, S. R. S. Nair & M. Madhupratap, 1981a. Chaetognaths of the Andaman Sea. Indian J. mar. Sci. 10: 270–273.
Nair, V. R., S. N. Gajbhiye & B. N. Desai, 1981. Distribution of chaetognaths in the polluted and unpolluted waters around Bombay. Indian J. mar. Sci. 10: 66–69.
Poulsen, E. M., 1962. Ostracoda-Mydocopa Part 1. Cypridiniformes Cypridinidae. Dana Rep. 57: 1–414.
Poulsen, E. M., 1969. Ostracoda-Mydocopa Part IIIA. Halocypriformes-Thaumatocypridae and Halocypridae. Dana Rep. 75: 1–100.
Poulsen, E. M., 1973. Ostracoda-Mydocopa. Part IIIB. Halocypriformes-Halocypridae, Conchoecinae. Dana Rep. 84: 1–224.
Rao, T. S. S., 1979. Zoogeography of the Indian Ocean. In: van der Spoel, S. & Pierrot-Bults (eds.), Zoogeography and diversity in plankton. Bunge Scientific Publishers, Utrecht. 254–292.
Tranter, D. J., C. B. L. Devi & K. P. Balakrishnan, 1972. Heron-Tranter Net. In IOBC Handbook 3. Proceedings of the Workshop on Plankton Methods: 6–7.
Wyrtki, K., 1973. Physical oceanography of the Indian Ocean. In B. Zeitschel (ed.), The Biology of the Indian Ocean 3, Springer-Verlag, Berlin: 18–36.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nair, V.R., Madhupratap, M. Latitudinal range of epiplanktonic chaetognatha and ostracoda in the western tropical Indian Ocean. Hydrobiologia 112, 209–216 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00008086
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00008086