Studies on the phytoplankton of the west coast of India Part I. Quantitative and Qualitative Fluctuation of the Total Phytoplankton crop, The Zooplankton Crop and Their Interrelationship, with Remarks on the Magnitude of the Standing Crop and Production of Matter and Their Relationship to Fish Landings

Abstract

The temperate and polar waters considerable work has been done on the qualitative and quantitative fluctuation of the phytoplankton as well as on heir production and rate of production of other organic matter by them; and, consequently, we have a good knowledge of the fertility of these waters. In the other hand, our knowledge about these aspects of the tropical and sub-tropical zones of the world is very meagre indeed, and all our knowledge .bout these regions until very recently was derived from the reports of Expeditions (the Challenger, Valdivia, Meteor, Michd Sars, Carniegie, John Murray, 3ana and so on) and as has been pointed out with emphasis by Dakin and zolefax (1940) these reports are often misleading as to the true conditions and give one an erroneous picture of the plankton conditions of the warmer regions, mainly because the conclusions are based on casual and discontiluous observations made during off-seasons while passing through the ropical regions to reach the temperate zones at or during the favourable season there.