ANNUAL MEAN MESOPLANKTON BIOMASS DISTRIBUTION IN THE SURFACE-LAYER OFTHE INDIAN-OCEAN

The distribution of the mean biomass of mesoplankton (animals size ran ges between 0.2 and 20 mm) in the surface layer (0-100 m) of the India n ocean was mapped. The results of biomass determination at 2736 ocean ographic stations were used in the map construction. The data were tak en from the own archive records, from the National Oceanographic Data Center, Washington, D.Gr. and from published sources. The overall meso plankton biomass stock in the 0-100 m layer of the Indian ocean was ev aluated as 0.96 x 10(9) tons (wet weight). An estimation of food requi rements of animals in this layer was mede. The primary production as e stimated by Berger et al. (1988) does not quality these demands.