A study on the zooplankton collected by light traps near a coral reef

Abstract

A study on the zooplankton collected by cost-effective light traps near a coral reef was conducted in Teluk Bakau, Pulau Redang. In Experiment A, a light trap with white LEDs was deployed weekly over the course of one month. The third quarter of the moon phase recorded 13 taxa of zooplankton whereas only four taxa of zooplankton were trapped during full moon. Consequently, zooplankton diversity was highest during the third quarter (0.5732) and lowest during full moon (0.1121). A total of 13,446 individuals of zooplankton were collected during the lunar cycle, of which 6,885 individuals were collected during the new moon ( 51 % ). A low abundance of individuals was recorded during full moon (1 % ). In Experiment B, colour LEDs ( white, green, yellow, red and blue) were used.