A preliminary study on the microzooplankton of Chilika Lake, a brackish water lagoon on the east coast of India

Abundance and composition of microzooplankton in Chilika Lake were studied covering three seasons during 2012–2013. Ciliates (19 species), rotifers (13 species), crustacean larvae (2 taxa) and heterotrophic dinoflagellates (2 species) were the four major groups. Ciliates, however, have emerged as the most dominant group throughout the lake in all the seasons except in the freshwater-influenced areas. The average contribution of ciliates was highest (avg. 55.3 ± 38.7 %) during the premonsoon season followed by post-monsoon (avg. 49.0 ± 32.5 %) and monsoon (avg. 47.8 ± 41.6 %) seasons. Crustacean larvae formed the second dominant group whose percentage contribution was marginally high in the premonsoon (avg. 41.2 ± 38.8 %) followed by monsoon (avg. 29.1 ± 27.0 %) and post-monsoon (avg. 28.7 ± 23.4 %). Results of cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling on abundance of microzooplankton depicted well-defined clusters. The stations with high salinity formed a different group indicating seasonal variation in species composition and abundance of microzooplankton is primarily governed by salinity.