author(s)
Jyoti Saroj, P Jawahar, A Srinivasan, N Neethiselvan, N Jayakumar and S Deepika

abstract
The present investigation deals with the assessment of diversity, composition and seasonal distribution of zooplankton in the nearshore waters of Gulf of Mannar. The present study consists of 35 species at three different sampling stations. In this investigation, maximum zooplankton species were recorded at station 1 and 3, i.e., Mandapam and Punnakayal. Decapods and Calanoids were the most dominant groups. The species diversity of zooplankton was comparatively more at station 1 as compared to station 2 and 3 whereas the density of zooplankton was found to be lower at station 1 (542 to 33, 519 nos. m^-3) compared to station 2 (821 to 41, 624 nos. m^-3) and station 3 (761 to 39, 648 nos. m^-3). The maximum and minimum density were recorded during summer 2018 and post-monsoon 2018 respectively at all sampling stations. The species diversity index (‘H’) was highest at station 1 (1.55) and (1.55) and lowest at station 3 (1.10). The current investigation exhibited that the rich zooplankton diversity in the nearshore waters of the Gulf of Mannar.