Biodiversity of Zooplankton and Stomach Content of Fishes from Palian River, Trang Province

Abstract

Zooplanktons diversity and stomach content of fishes were studied in Palian River, Tang Province. Zooplanktons and fishes were collected during August 2014 and February 2015 using plankton net (65 um) and fish trap, respectively. The results showed that zooplanktons in Palian River consist of 17 taxa from 6 Phyla. Phylum Arthropoda was the most abundance followed by Phylum Mollusca and Phylum Chordata, respectively. Zooplanktons distribution showed great spatial and temporal variation. Moreover, 5 order and 20 species of fishes were found. Among them, only 8 common species were analyzed for stomach content. The results revealed that feeding habit of fishes were varied among them. In general, all fish species were omnivorous. However, they could be separated into 2 groups; Mullet (Liza vaigiensis) which was phytoplankton feeder and the remaining fishes which were zooplanktons feeders. It may be concluded that; zooplankton is likely high in diversity served as the importance food source for fishes in Palian River. In addition, high abundance of shrimps, crab and fish larvae suggest that this ecosystem play an important role as a nursery ground for importance aquatic animals.