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Abstract
The relationship between zooplankton community structure and selected environmental conditions was investigated by simultaneous two-day consecutive sampling in the waters overlying coral and sand sites off Sibu Island and a seagrass site off Tinggi Island, Johor, Malaysia. A total of 129 taxa were identified, 60 non-copepod taxa and 69 copepod species in all samples. Uni- and multi-variate analyses reveal distinct coral, sand, seagrass copepod assemblages with indicator copepod species and attributes of their size fractions. Small fraction (100–335 µm) samples contained greatest number of individuals, few rare species and were densest at onshore depths, and the opposite for large fraction (>335 µm) samples but were densest at nighttime and most species rich in the coral site at night. Higher species diversity at offshore stations is due likely to ecotonal effects of overlapping oceanic and nearshore communities. This study demonstrates the usefulness of uni- and multi-variate analyses in identifying patterns in zooplankton community structure in representative shallow tropical habitats, and the need for accurate zooplankton taxonomy, nighttime and daytime and onshore and offshore sampling, and size fractionation of samples.
Acknowledgements
We are very grateful to the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Asian Core and Core to Core Programs for research funds, the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and the Universiti Putra Malaysia for the excellent hosting and logistical support during sampling and the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.
Supplemental materials
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher's website.