Relative abundance of zooplankton observed in three freshwater temple ponds in Thirupparankundram near Madurai, Tamil Nadu

Relative abundance of zooplankton was observed in three freshwater temple ponds at Thirupparankundram, Madurai. Tamil Nadu for a period of three years from the month of September, 2009 to August, 2012. A total of 17 zooplankton species were encountered in the three temple ponds which are located in the same geographical location but at different altitudes. This included rotifer (8), cladocera (4), copepoda (4) and ostracoda (1). The maximum number of 17 species was recorded in Saravana poigai, while, in Lakshmi theertham and Kasi theertham the maximum number of species recorded were only 16 and 11 respectively. The zooplankton were identified to be as Brachionus calyciflorus, Brachionus angularis, Brachionus quadridentata, Brachionus diversicornis, Brachionus plicatilis, Brachionus pterodinoides, Brachionus urceolaris, Brachionus rubens, Alona rectangula rectangula, Moina brachiata, Moina micrura, Diaphanosoma excisum, Mesocyclops thermocyclopoides, Mesocyclops hyalinus, Mesocyclops edax, Mesocyclops aspericornis and Stenocypris major. The analysis of variance of the zooplankton observed revealed that most of the variations observed are statistically significant and that these variations may be due to the altitudinal difference in the locations of the pond.