A comparative study on the density and seasonal variations of rotifer and copepod fauna in a pond of Tripura, India with a note on water quality parameters

Abstract

A Comparative study was carried out in a pond of Tripura to observe the density and seasonal succession of rotifer and copepod fauna and the observation recorded 26 species of rotifer and 6 species of copepod fauna. Percentage composition of different families as well as percentage composition of each species in the recorded total rotifer and copepod fauna was also noted. Rotifer fauna showed maximum density in the winter and minimum density during summer. On the contrary, copepod fauna showed maximum density in the summer and minimum density in monsoon season. Rotifer fauna showed significant positive correlation with water temperature, free carbon dioxide, total alkalinity, nitrate-nitrogen, phosphate phosphorus and negative correlation with transparency. On the contrary, copepod fauna showed positive correlation with water temperature and pH and negative correlation with dissolved oxygen, total alkalinity and nitrate nitrogen. The observation infers that the densities of rotifer and copepod fauna varies with seasons which might be the dynamic nature of the aquatic ecosystem and might also be due to optimal condition in the water quality parameters of the studied pond ecosystem.