European Journal of Zoological Research
Abstract
Author(s): Leila Lebaschi, Maryam Fallahi and Maryam Shapoori
Many specious of Caspian Sea fishes immigrate to Anzali wetland for reproduction and also some larvae spend the
primary levels of their growth in this wetland. Because of that, Zooplankton has an important role in nutrition in
Anzali wetland. Therefore, in this research, the identification of copepods (a major group of zooplankton) was
studied in Anzali wetland and estuarine region of the Caspian Sea. The sampling was done from March 2011 to
September 2011 at five stations including one station in the Caspian Sea, one station in estuarine region and three
stations in Anzali wetland which contains Nahang roga, Sorkhankol and west wetland entry (Abkenar entrance) for
comparison of the density of zooplankton in different stations with regard to salinity variation. Six geneses of
copepods were identified in this study and also, the density of copepods in Anzali wetland was more than the other
regions (significantly in August with 102.77 in per liter) among three regions of the Caspian Sea, Estuary and
Wetland, respectively. Physicochemical characteristics such as oxygen, temperature, pH, electrical conductivity
(EC) and transparency were measured and relations between densities of copepods with these parameters were
identified. Our main conclusions are that physicochemical factors may be responsible for changes on zooplankton
community.
