Zooplankton in east coast of Peninsular Malaysia

An ecological study of Zooplankton was carried out as part of a three year oceanographic study of South China Sea from 2002 to 2005. Field samplings were conducted to determine the density and distribution of Zooplankton in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia which include Terengganu, Pahang and Johor coastal areas. Samples were collected from a total of 105 stations within 19 transects laid 60km to open sea. The highest density was found at Terengganu coast, and the lowest was at Pahang coast. In Terengganu, Harpacticoida was the most dominant group with highest number found in transect laid from Kuala Terengganu water and was followed by Calanoida with highest number in transect laid near Merang seaward to Redang Island. The dominance of Calanoida and Harpacticoida was also shown in Pahang and Johor waters. In Pahang, Calanoida was found in highest density at the northern transect laid nearest to Terengganu water. It was followed by Harpacticoida with high density along the study area before sharply decrease in transect nearest to Johor. In Johor, Calanoida was highest in density at transect near to Pulau Babi Besar in Mersing water while highest density of Harpacticoida was found in Kota Tinggi water. Other groups including Cyclopoida, Cladocera, Ostracoda, Mysidacea, Ctenophora and Chaetognatha were found in small abundance along the study area. This study indicates high biodiversity of Zooplankton in Malaysian water of South China Sea.