Preliminary study on zooplankton composition of a concrete structured rainforest lotic freshwater ecosystem, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the zooplankton composition of Ogbei Stream. Fortnightly samples of zooplankton were sampled for twelve months (May 2018 – April 2019). A total of 1457 specimens belonging to 3 phyla, 5 classes and 7 orders were caught using plankton net with 80μm mesh size. Rotifera (706, 48.46 %) was the dominant phylum and Monogononta was the most abundant class. Ploima (590, 40.49 %) was the most abundant rotiferan order while Bdelloidea (47, 3.23 %) was the least abundant order. Monthly abundance of zooplankton was highest in September (465, 31.91 %) during the wet season and lowest in March (56, 3.84 %). Seasonally, zooplankton occurred most in the wet season and least in the dry season.

Keywords: Zooplankton, Concrete structure, Rainforest freshwater, Ecosystem, Ogbei Stream