A PRELIMINARY STUDY ON FAUNA OF PLANKTONIC COPEPODS IN THE CHINA SEAS

A total of 345 species of planktonic copepods have hitherto been found from the China Seas.Among them, tropical and warm-water species are dominant.The similar pattern of geographical distribution of these species is ascribed to the common influence of the coastal currents, the Kuroshio, and the South China Sea warm current.The number of species of planktonic copepods along the coastal waters of China decreases with increasing latitude, and increases with increasing longitude.The composition of the copepod fauna in the China Seas shows that the Bohai Sea and the northern Huanghai Sea belong to the north temperate zone fauna, that the South China Sea, offshore areas of the East China Sea and the southeastern part of the Taiwan Strait belong to the tropical fauna, and the western part of the Taiwan Strait and the northwestern part of the East China Sea belong to the mixed distribution area of tropical and subtropical fauna.