ANNUAL VARIATION OF ZOOPLANKTON IN GUANABARA BAY AND ADJACENT OCEANIC AREA (RIO DE JANEIRO-BRASIL) WITH SPECIAL ATTENTION TO COPEPODS

Abstract

The zooplankton biomass was analized at two stations in a region known for its strong anthropogenic action, station situated on northwest of Guanabara Bay and in a coastal area near the Submarine Outfall Sewage of Ipanema (ESEI). The samples were collected twice a month, during the morning, irom February 1983 to January 1984. The copepods distribution was taken during July or August, months that correspond to the dry season and December that corresponds to the rainy season. The zooplankton highest values (7462 org/m³) were found in the coastal area. From the holoplankton, the copepods were the most frequent and abundant in both stations. Fish eggs were the most abundant examples of meroplankton in the Guanabara Bay station, decapods and cirripeds larvae were significant in both regions. The most representative copepods were: Acartia lilljeborgi Giesbrecht, 1892 which occured in both stations during the dry and rainy seasons: in the station near ESEI Temora sty1ifera (Dana, 1849) and Paracalanus quasimodo Bowman, 1971 appeared in both periods studied, whereas Centropages velificatus (Oliveira, 1947) was important during the dry season and Paracalanus parvus (Claus, 1863) in the ID station during the rainy season.