ZOOPLANKTON DISTRIBUTIONS AND COMMUNITY STRUCTURE IN AN AREA OF THE SOUTH COAST SHELF OF JAMAICA

The abundance, species composition and biomass of the zooplankton comm unities of a 69 km(2) area on the southern shelf of Jamaica, were exam ined. This area covered the Port Royal Gays, the Hellshire Coastline a nd the mouth of Kingston Harbor. Sixteen stations were sampled monthly from March to October, 1986 by vertical hauls using a 200 mu m mesh p lankton net. 119 zooplankton taxa were identified and enumerated. Numb ers m(-3) ranged from a mean value of 96,047 (Western Harbor Mouth) to 1,040 at East Middle Ground (Pea Royal Gays). Biomass estimates which were made at 9 of the 16 stations, followed the same trend. Three dis tinct regions, representing different water quality types, were identi fied using species distribution coupled with the recorded abundances. Stations located at the Harbor Mouth formed one cluster, stations alon g the Hellshire Coastline and South East Cay formed another, with the third group consisting of the remaining Port Royal Gays stations. Thes e clusters could be explained by their proximity to land derived nutri ent inputs or the presence of water retention mechanisms. Lucifer faxo ni and Penilia avirostris were identified as indicators of Harbor wate rs and Temora stylifera as an indicator of oceanic waters.