Composition and Abundance of Zooplankton of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

Results of investigations on the composition and quantitative distribution of zooplankton of the eastern Mediterranean Sea were reviewed for the period 1950-1980. The studies reviewed comprise more than 250 stations (with about 2000 samples) mainly from the expeditions carried out by the Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas (IBSS), attached to the National Academy of Science of the Ukraine. Many of these stations are located in poorly studied deep-water regions. For comparison purposes data from the literature on the coastal regions were also used. During these studies, >30 new species of zooplankton were identified from the eastern Mediterranean. The abundances of zooplankton from different locations in this region were evaluated. A trend was observed whereby the quantity of zooplankton was seen to decrease from the west to the east and from the north to the south. Such events correspond to an impoverishment of nutrients in the water. The coastal regions, desalinized by river inflows, were poorer than the deep-water regions with respect to species number, but richer in abundance.