Abstract:

The western Pacific region has been operating as a centre for the origin of marine biodiversity: the richest diversity of many marine taxa was found in these waters. Therefore, biodiversity research and conservation efforts in this area are necessary in order to promote the integrative and international management of this resource. The present work is a compilation of numbers of all the families, genera and species of major taxa of zooplankton known in the western Pacific Ocean(106°-150°E, 0°-44°N). In all, 2,658 zooplanktonic species (including subspecies) belonging to 206 families and 675 genera have been recorded from taxonomic identifications and literature, 99 families, 251 genera and 697 species belong to the Medusozoa, 12 families, 22 genera and 59 species to the Ctenophora, 14 families, 35 genera and 86 species to the pelagic Molluscs (Pteropoda and Heteropoda), 8 families, 89 genera and 416 species to the Ostracoda, 51 families, 156 genera and 908 species to the Copepoda, 4 families, 58 genera and 202 species to the Mysidcea, 2 families, 8 genera and 56 species to the Euphausiacea, 8 families, 22 genera and 105 species to the Decapoda, 5 families, 8 genera and 48 species to the Chaetognatha, 5 families, 26 genera and 81 species to the Tunicata.

Key words: zooplankton, western Pacific region, taxa composition, diversity