Zooplankton of Morrocoy National Park 2000-2002

Study Extent

Between February 2000 and January 2002, monthly trips were made to collect zooplankton samples to establish the composition, density and biomass of zooplankton groups. Monitoring was carried out at 13 stations: Cayo Sal, Golfete Cuare, Centro Cuare, Cayo Sombrero, Boca Grande, Ensenada de Morrocoy, Boca Seca (Internal), Boca Seca (External), Boca Paiclá, Boca Suanchez, Bahía de Tucacas, Caño León, Bahía de Las Luisas.

Sampling

Vertical trawls were conducted using a Motoda XX13 plankton net, https://www.bco-dmo.org/instrument/555, with 100 micron mesh pore size. Vertical trawl of a net or a pair of nets (1), Wiebe et al. 2015. A vocabulary for the configuration of net tows for plankton and micronekton collection. J. Plankton Res., 37(1):21-27. doi:10.1093/plankt/fbu101.

Method steps

1. Monthly monitoring
2. Thirteen monitoring stations
3. Vertical trawls, using a plankton net
4. Visual identification and quantification of organisms using optical equipment
5. Wet biomass estimation

Identification of zooplankton organisms comprising meroplankton larvae and planktonic species. Identification was performed at different taxonomic levels, from kingdom and phylum to species.

1. Copepoda
   rank: subclass
2. Acantharia
   rank: class
3. Actinopteri
   rank: class
4. Thecostraca
   rank: class
5. Anthoathecata
   rank: order
6. Appendicularia
   rank: class
7. Decapoda
   rank: order
8. Gastropoda
   rank: order
9. Leptothecata
   rank: order
10. Siphonophorae
    rank: order

Morrocoy National Park, Falcón State, Venezuela.