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Perspectives on Marine Environment Change in Hong Kong and Southern China, 1977-2001 (ed . B. Morton). Proceedings o f a n Internationa l Worksho p Reunio n Conference, Hon g Kong 21-2 6 Octobe r 2001. Hong Kong : Hong Kong University Press , 2003. A HISTORICAL AND BIOGEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSI S O F THE MARINE PLANKTONIC COPEPO D COMMUNIT Y I N HONG KONG: A RECORD O F CHANG E Christine N.W . Le e The Swire Institute of Marine Science and Department o f Ecology an d Biodiversity , The University o f Hong Kong, Hong Kon g and Q.C. Che n South China Se a Institute of Oceanology, The Chinese Academy o f Sciences , Guangzhou 510301 , Chin a ABSTRACT Although zooplankton biomass was assessed in Hong Kong waters in the 1970s, the first taxonomic surve y wa s no t conducted unti l th e 1980s . To date, 15 1 marine planktoni c species, distributed amon g 3 1 families, hav e been recorded from studie s concentratin g on Tolo Harbour, southeastern coastal waters and the Pearl River Estuary. The common copepod specie s ar e largely representatives o f the Calanoida, suc h as Acartia pacifica, Acartia spinicauda, Acartia erythraea, Canthocalanus pauper, Parvocalanus crassirostris, Subeucalanus subcrassus an d Temora turbinata. Th e mos t commo n cyclopoid, harpacticoid and poecilostomatoid copepods are Oithona rigida, Microsetella norvegica an d Corycaeus affinis, respectively . Copepo d specie s compositio n an d abundance ar e affecte d b y seasona l change s i n circulatio n an d th e intrusio n o f wate r masses with distinct specie s assemblages . Northern boreal copepods, such as Acartia pacifica, Calanopia thompsoni, Calanus sinicus, Centropages tenuiremis, Euchaeta plana, Oithona similis an d Temora discaudata, ar e carried into local coastal waters by the Zhejiang-Fujian Coasta l Current during winter. At the same time, A. pacifica, C. tenuiremis, Copilia spp., Farranula spp., Labidocera pavo, Oithona fallax, Oithona tenuis and Sapphirina spp . are brought int o local water s b y th e Kuroshi o Current . I n the summer, o n the other hand, loca l water s are affected partl y by the intrusion of the South China Sea Current, bringing with it other 434 CN.W. LEE & Q.C. CHEN copepods, suc h a s Calanopia elliptica, Calocalanus pavo, Calocalanus plumulosus, Candacia discaudata, Candacia simplex, Canthocalanus pauper, Subeucalanus crassus, Subeucalanus subcrassus, Subeucalanus subtenuis, Euchaeta concinna, Euchaeta indica, Labidocera acuta, Metacalanus aurivilli, Microsetella rosea, Oithona atlantica, Oithona longispina, Oithona plumifera, Oithona setigera, Oncaea venusta, Temora turbinata, Cosmocalanus darwinii an d Undinula vulgaris. I n summer, the western coastal water s of Hong Kong are also subjected to a large spate of Pearl River discharge which washes in the freshwater an d brackish copepod species, such as Acartiella sinensis, Apocyclops borneoensis, Labidocera euchaeta, Labidocera bipinnata, Pontellopsis tenuicauda, Pseudodiaptomus poplesia an d Tortanus dextrilobatus. INTRODUCTION Although planktoni c copepod s wer e describe d a s earl y a s th e 1770 s fro m Norway , planktonology i s a relatively youn g biological discipline worldwide and is only abou t 100 years ol d (Zhen g et al. 1965 ; Zheng 1988 ; Zheng an d Li 1988) . Plankton studie s in China began in the 1950s (Zheng et al. 1965). In Hong Kong, marine science initially focused upo n coasta l hydrograph y an d fishes . Sinc e th e 1980s , local biologist s hav e extended their interests from fisherie s t o basic ecology (Morto n 1982) . Because of the frequent outbreak s o f red tides in Hong Kong in the 1970 s and 1980s , initial plankto n studies wer e directe d int o investigation s o f mainl y phytoplankto n (Morto n an d Twentyman 1971 ; Fung an d Trott 1973 ; Thompson an d Ho 1981 ; Hodgkiss an d Chan 1983, 1986, 1987; Holmes and Lam 1985; Chan and Hodgkiss 1987 ; Lam and Ho 1989; Chan et al. 1991 ; Chiu 1992 ; Chiu et al. 1994) . Zooplankton studie s are worthy of more attention because animals making up this component of the total plankton are taxonomically and trophodynamically diverse. They occur in enormous numbers, act as food for larval fishes and corals, provide informatio n on fish and benthic organism recruitments, play a role in nutrient cycling, infer primary and secondary productions and, in turn, predict fishery production . Some zooplankters, such a s chaetognath s an d copepods , ar e als o predator s o f fis...

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