1. Copepod biodiversity in four different coastal ecosystems along the Straits of Malacca
F. M. Yusoff & H. Matias-Peralta
Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor
JSPS Meeting, Malacca, 19 & 20th May 2008
JSPS
UPM

2. UPM- JSPS Projects
2001 – 2005:
Copepod biodiversity in an estuarine ecosystem, Langat River, Malaysia
2006 – 2010:
Copepod species composition & abundance in coastal ecosystems, the Straits of Malacca:
Sea-grass, cage-culture, off shrimp farm, off mangrove forest
Copepod composition in polluted vs non-polluted environment

3. November 2005 – rainfall (amount in mm)
Mangroves
Shrimp farm
Cages
Northeast monsoon
Sea grass
November 2005 – rainfall (amount in mm)

4. March 2006 – rainfall (amount in mm)
Inter- monsoon
March 2006 – rainfall (amount in mm)

5. May 2006 – rainfall (amount in mm)
Southwest monsoon
May 2006 – rainfall (amount in mm)

6. Monsoon seasons in Malaysia
Months
Northeast
November to February
Inter-monsoon
March to April
Southwest
May to August
September to October
Source: Malaysian Meteorological Department

7. Sea Grass Bed
01’ N 103’ E
01’ N 103’ E
01’ N 103’ E

8. Marine Cage Aquaculture

9. Off shrimp farms N 03°15.105’ E 101°17.790’ N 03°15.712’ E 101°16.673’

10. Off mangrove areas N 04°49.246’ E 100°32.976’

11. Sampling from four ecosystems along the Straits of Malacca
3 points in each site; triplicates from each point
6X/bi-monthly
Field preservation
Lab. Processes
Water quality analyses
Identification & enumeration

12. 5% buffered (pH 8.0-8.2) formalin
Sample collection
Sample
Equipment
Method
Copepod
100µm mesh size (50cm dia x 100cm length)
Vertical tows
Water (D.O., pH, Temp, Sal. Cond. TDS, Turb.)
Hydrolab Surveyor (4A)
Every 1 meter depth
Water (nutrients: TAN, nitrite-N, TN, SRP and TP)
VanDorn water sampler
Pooled sample (Surface & bottom)
Copepod (identification, enumeration and biomass)
5% buffered (pH ) formalin

13. Sample processing Samples (3 bottles)
Split samples with Folsom plankton splitter
sorting, identification & enumeration
sorting, biomass
Wet weight
Dry weight
Ash-free dry weight
Dissecting microscope Compound microscope

14. % of copepod and non-copepod groups from different coastal zone ecosystems in the Malacca Straits
Seagrass bed
Coastal waters off a mangrove forest reserve
Coastal waters off a shrimp farm
Cage culture area
Copepods
72.24
65.37
63.62
68.49
Nauplii
7.54
8.06
7.94
10.48
Copepodids
1.75
12.88
13.32
12.29
Calanoids
45.84
30.14
29.48
26.11
Cyclopoids
12.71
11.49
9.23
16.31
Harpacticoids
3.69
2.67
2.99
2.52
Poecilostomatoids
0.71
0.13
0.66
0.78
Non-copepod
27.76
34.63
36.38
31.51

15. a a b b
Copepod density (x104 ind/m3) in 4 coastal ecosystems along the Malacca Straits

16. Natural ecosystems
Copepod density (x104 ind/m3) in 4 coastal ecosystems along the Straits of Malacca, in different seasons

17. c b a
Density (x 104 ind/m3) of copepod vs non-copepod at different monsoon season in the seagrass area (significant difference within the seasons)

18. a b
Density (x 103 ind/m3) of copepods vs non-copepods in diff. monsoon seasons in cage aquaculture area

19. a b
Density (x 104 ind/m3) of copepod vs non-copepod in different monsoon seasons in the coastal waters off a shrimp aquaculture farm (no significant difference between seasons)

20. a b
Density (x 104 ind/m3) of copepod vs non-copepod at different monsoon season in the coastal waters off mangrove area

21. a b c
Copepod biomass (mg/m3) in 4 different coastal ecosystems along the Malacca Straits

22. Copepod biomass (mg/m3) in four different coastal ecosystems along the Straits of Malacca in different seasons

23. a b
Abundance (x 104 ind/m3) of common copepod species in different size fractions (mm) in 4 coastal ecosystems along Malacca Straits

24. a b
Abundance of common copepod species (x 103 ind/m3) in different size fractions (mm) in diff. monsoon seasons in seagrass area

25. a a a a a a b b a c c b
Abundance of common copepod species (x 103 ind/m3) in different size fractions (mm)in different monsoon seasons in the cage aquaculture area (significant difference within size fractions exist depending on the season)

26. a a a a a a a a b b b b
Abundance of common copepod species (x 104 ind/m3) in different size fractions (mm) in diff. seasons in waters off a shrimp aquaculture farm.

27. a a a a a a a a b b b b
Copepod density (x 103 ind/m3) in different size fractions (mm) in diff. monsoon seasons in coastal waters off mangrove forest (lowest (p<0.05) density for bigger size copepod)

28. Copepod species in different size fractions (mm)
Size category (mm)
<0.50
>1.0
Nauplii,
copepodites,
Oithona rigida
O.simplex
Euterpina
acutifrons
Oncaea sp.
Clausocalanus
minor
Paracalanus aculateus, P. crassirostris, P. elegans, P. parvus, Acartia pacifica,
Acartia sp 1,
Acrocalanus gibber,
Oithona sp.1,
Microsetella norwegica
Nannocalanus sp., Acartia erythraea, Candacia discauda,
Candacia catula, Tortanus forcipatus,
Tortanus sp.1
Centropages furcatus
Eucalanus crassus E. subcrassus,
E. subtenuis,
Labidocera acuta
Tortanus barbatus
Temora stylifera
Temora turbinate

29. Species diversity index (H’), evenness (J’) and species richness in 4 ecosystems in Malacca Straits in diff. seasons

30. Copepod diversity indices from different coastal zone ecosystems in the Malacca Straits
Index
Seagrass bed
Coastal waters off a mangrove forest reserve
Coastal waters off a shrimp farm
Cage culture area
H’ (species diversity index
3.24± 0.03
2.82±0.02
2.90± 0.03
3.49 ±0.02
J’ Species evenness
0.90 ±0.01
0.83±0.01
0.81± 0.01
0.88 ±0.01
d (species richness)
4.97 ±0.1
3.45±0.06
4.15± 0.06
7.64 ±0.26

31. Shrimp farm Mangroves # Genera # Species H’ 30 67 Seagrass 20 48
3.24± 0.03
Cage Aquac 24 59
3.49 ±0.02
Shrimp farm 16 44
2.90± 0.03
Mangroves 14 35
2.82±0.02

32. Dendograms of 4 ecosystems along the Straits of Malacca.
Specific Ecosystems
Coastal Waters
Dendograms of 4 ecosystems along the Straits of Malacca.

33. Mangroves
Cage Aquac
Shrimp F
Shrimp Farm
Seagrass Bed
Non-metric multi-dimensional scaling of four different coastal ecosystems along Malacca Straits

34. In situ water quality parameter in different coastal zone ecosystems in the Malacca Straits.
Seagrass bed
Mangrove
Shrimp farm
Cage
Temp (ºC)
29.88±0.21
29.92±0.22
29.94±0.25
30.06±0.36
Salinity (ppt)
30.86±0.59
30.79±0.64
30.68±0.71 pH
7.88±0.05
7.83±0.04
7.84± 0.04
7.88± 0.01
Diss.O2 (mg/L)
4.68±0.26
4.73±0.29
4.96±0.27
4.48±0.18
Conductivity (µS/cm)
47.32±0.80
47.27±0.80
47.32±0.83
47.08±0.97
Turbidity (NTU)
11.58±2.65
13.52±3.71
16.05±2.94
9.12±0.61
TDS (mg/L)
30.36±0.56
29.28±0.99
30.34±0.50
30.13±0.62

35. SRP concentrations (µg/L)
Changes in SRP concentrations (µg/L) in 4 coastal ecosystems along the Straits of Malacca in diff. seasons

36. Total P concentrations (µg/L)
Changes in Total P conc.(µg/L) in 4 coastal ecosystems along the Straits of Malacca in diff. seasons

37. TAN concentrations (µg/L)
Changes in total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) concentrations (µg/L) in 4 coastal ecosystems along the Straits of Malacca in diff. seasons

38. Nitrite-N concentrations (µg/L)
Changes in nitrite nitrogen concentrations (µg/L) in 4 ecosystems along the Straits of Malacca in diff. seasons

39. Total nitrogen concentrations (µg/L)
Changes in total nitrogen concentrations (µg/L) in 4 coastal ecosystems along the Straits of Malacca in diff. seasons

40. The most dominant copepod genera from different coastal zone ecosystems along the Malacca Straits
Groups
Seagrass area
Cage culture area
Coastal waters off a shrimp aqua farm
Coastal waters off mangroves
Calanoids
Paracalanus spp
Clausocalanus spp
Acartia spp
Cyclopoids
Oithona spp
Oithona spp
Oithona spp

41. List of copepod species from 4 ecosystems (seagrass = S; coastal waters off a mangrove forest reserve = M; coastal waters off a shrimp aquaculture farm = SF and cage culture area = C) in the Straits of Malacca.
Group/Family
Genera
Number of species S M SF C
Calanoid
Acartidae
Acartia 3
Calanidae
Canthocalanus 1 -
Nannocalanus
Undinula
Candacidae
Candacia
Centropagidae
Centropages 4
Clausocalanus
Eucalanidae
Eucalanus
Euchaetidae
Euchaeta 2

42. Group/Family Genera No. of species S M SF C Calanoid Metridinidae
Pleuromamma - 1
Pontellidae
Calanopia 3
Labidocera 6
Pontella
Pontellopsis
Paracalanidae
Acrocalanus 2
Paracalanus 4
Pseudodiaptomidae
Pseudodiaptomus
Temoridae
Temora
Tortaridae
Tortanus
Sub-Total 33 24 43
Cyclopoid
Oithonidae
Oithona 5

43. Family Genera Number of species S M SF C Harpacticoid Clytemnestridae
Clytemnestra 1 -
Ectinosomatidae
Microsetella
Euterpinidae
Euterpina
Miraciidae
Macrosetella
Miracia
Sub-Total 4 3
Poecilostomatoid
Corycaecidae
Corycaeus 2
Oncaeidae
Oncaea
Sapphirinidae
Copilia 7
Grand Total 48 35 44 59

44. Conclusions Dominance Copepods dominated: ~70% vs. 30%
Amongst copepods:
Calanoid dominated: 26-46%, followed by cyclopoids
Densities & Biomass
Coastal waters (mangroves & shrimps) higher than specific areas (sea-grass beds & cages); both densities & biomass
Higher densities during NE monsoon in sea-grass & off-mangrove areas
Biomass relatively constant throughout

45. Conclusions - Cont Size distribution
All ecosystems dominated by small-medium species; <1.0 mm
Similar trends throughout seasons, small % of big copepods, >1.0 mm
In sea-grass area, higher density of medium sized copepods (0.5 – 1.0 mm), esp. in NE monsoon
In other areas, small copepods (<0.5 mm) dominate
Clustering
2 distinct areas:
off-shore mangroves and shrimp farm areas
In specific areas: seagrass & cages: with high fish larvae – high predation? – difficult without adequate data

46. Conclusions - Cont Species Diversity
Higher species diversity in areas in sea-grass bed & cage culture area (in low density areas)
Mainly due to differences in richness
Controlling factor?– medium predation? Keep density low, and Biodiversity high
Higher nutrients in shrimp and mangrove areas – higher density
More datasets required to explain observations