DISTRIBUTION AND BIOLOGY OF MARINE CLADOCERANS IN THE COASTAL WATERS OF SOUTHERN CHINA

Geographical and seasonal distributions of marine cladocerans in the c oastal waters of southern China were studied. Penilia avirostris was t he most common species, followed by Evadne tergestina and Podon schmac keri. P. avirostris and E. tergestina were most common during summer. P schmackeri, found only in a small bay northeast of Hong Kong, showed no clear seasonal pattern of occurrence. P. avirostris and E. tergest ina were found at temperatures ranging from 16-32 degrees C and salini ty ranging from 7.3-37.2 parts per thousand. P. schmackeri was restric ted to a temperature range of 17-29 degrees C and a salinity range of 31.0-37.2 parts per thousand. No significant relationships between mar ine cladoceran abundance and chlorophyll a concentration were found in samples taken from Tolo Harbour. Parthenogenetic brood size of P avir ostris and E. tergestina ranged from 1 to 14, while P. schmackeri was found to carry up to 19 embryos per brood. No geographical trend in fe cundity patterns was observed. No correlation was found between body l ength and brood size. The occurrence of females with resting eggs was rare.