CHARACTERIZATION OF THE ZOOPLANCTON IN THE REGION OF THE LAJE DE SANTOS MARINE STATE PARK Nauther Andres, Vanessa Lima, Fabio Giordano

Abstract

Plankton are organisms whose displacement power is insufficient to overcome the dynamics of water bodies. Ecology highlight the zooplankton which has a key position in the trophic webs, as they feed on phytoplankton, functioning as an energy transfer link. Identifying the seasonal composition of these communities can bring new data that increase the management and conservation plans in the region. So far, two collections have been made in the State Marine Park of “Laje de Santos” (PEMLS): the first in the winter of 2019 and the second in the summer of 2020, in the adjacent waters of the PEMLS, another two seasonal collections are expected. The method of collection was the superficial horizontal trawl, using conical plankton net. The objective was to identify the groups belonging to the zooplankton in this region and to treat this data by applying synthetic diversity descriptors and making the results available in an electronic guide. As preliminary results, 35 taxa were identified, with greater abundance of the Copepoda group as expected, followed by Cladocera and Chaetognatha, as well as a the greater abundance of individuals occurred in the summer period.