Assemblages of mesozooplankton in Baler Bay, Aurora, Northern Philippines

Composition, diversity, abundance of mesozooplankton and their relation with the hydrological conditions of the waters in Baler Bay, Aurora, Northern Philippines were compared. A total of 122 taxa belonging to 9 major groups were categorized. Copepoda comprises the chief constituent of the mesozooplankton community with Canthocalanus pauper, Oncaea venusta, Centropages furcatus, Acrocalanus gibber, Calanopia elliptica and Candacia catula being the most abundant and widely distributed copepods in the said area. Using several diversity indices, high diversity and evenness but low dominance values in the mesozooplankton taxa was observed in the five sampling stations. Results of Kruskal-Walis Test revealed significant differences (p