Description

Copepods are key components of marine food chains. This book on Copepods of the Arabian Sea by Muniza and Kazmi is based on 32 samples collected from January 9 to 23, 1992 in the Northern Arabian Sea by the NASEER cruise 1. The area covered in the study lies between 20-25°N and 58- 67°E, the northwestern part of the Arabian Sea. This work describes 39 species of calanoid, poicelostomoids, cyclopoids and harpacticoids copepods found in the Arabian Sea. For each species there is a short description, detailed original line drawings and some photographs of females and males. Keys to species are also included in Copepods of the northern Arabian Sea, and maps and diagrams illustrating horizontal occurrence of the described species in the investigated area are also provided. Some species are unique and some were reported for the first time from the region. Abundance characteristics of the distribution and species diversity of surface copepods at the --stations in the cruise track were examined for about 1 year. Both advanced taxonomists and beginner students will find the book a valuable guide to the pelagic copepods of the Arabian Sea region.