Relationship between water masses and zooplankton in the gulf of Thailand and east coast of peninsular Malaysia

Abstract

Most of the studies on the relationship between the physical and chemical properties of water and biological data were done by studying the relationship between individual parameters with individual species or each group of marine life which might not be appropriate, as individual species usually relate to several parameters. The study on water masses, which tries to classify water by their properties and origins, may give a better answer than the each parameter study. Because each water mass can be composed of the same kind of organic or inorganic matter, minerals, trace metals etc., which are important for life. The objectives of this study are to classify and study the distribution of water masses in the Gulf of Thailand and East Coast of Peninsula Malaysia and to determine the relationship between those water masses and zooplankton in the area.