Seasonal changes in zooplankton community in the coastal waters off Incheon

The seasonal succession of zooplankton communities in the coastal area off Incheon, Kyeonggi Bay, was investigated with the samples collected at intervals of 10 to 15 days from January 1999 to December 2000. Total abundance of zooplankton communities showed remarkable seasonal variations, ranged from 1,100 to $120,400{\;}indiv./\textrm{m}^3$, and annual mean abundance was $22,000{\;}indiv./\textrm{m}^3$. There were several times of the total abundance during a year, and the timing ofhigh abundances were about the same in 1999 and 2000. During the study period except summer, the abundance of dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans and copepod Acartia hongi contributed to the most part of total zooplankton. Whereas, during summer, smaller copepod Oithona davisae and Paracalanus crassirostris were dominant species. Zooplankton communities in the coastal waters off Incheon showed typical characteristics of coastal-estuarine communities, which were dominated by a few species, and abrupt seasonal variations in abundance. We suggest that the seasonal succession and abundance variations of zooplankton communities were caused by the seasonal variations in water temperature and by the seasonally varying phytoplankton biomass in the study area.