DETERMINATION OF ZOOPLANKTONS AS BIOFOULERS ALONG THE TRIBUTARIES OF GULF OF GUINEA

Zooplankton is the animal portion of the plankton . Zooplankton is defined as pelagic animals which are unable to maintain their position by swimming against the physical movement of water. They occupied both freshwater and saline water and also can be found in almost all water bodies, including river, stream, lakes, reservoir, ponds, irrigation canals, rice-field and temporary water body. Zooplankton are the key role in the pelagic food web by controlling phytoplankton production and shaping pelagic ecosystem. They are heterotrophic animals that are incapable of synthesizing organic matter itself . Planktonic algae is grazed by a variety of larval and adults zooplankton. Then, they are being fed upon by fishes, aquatic insects and some other aquatic organisms. Zooplankton is essentially a group of non-motile or have little mobility organisms relative to the water mass. They drift with the current, susceptible to pollutants, land use and other changes occurred within the aquatic system. According to Dawson and Knatz (1980), the groups of freshwater zooplankton can be divided into three main groups namely Cladocera, Copepoda, and Rotifera. The zooplankton occupies a key position in shaping the pelagic food web by acting as primary consumer in aquatic food chains or food web in the aquatic environment. Therefore, in order to understand the function of zooplankton in food webs and chain, it is necessary to gain knowledge about the temporal and spatial structure of the zooplankton community in the aquatic environment, especially in the tributaries along the Gulf of Guinea.