Quantitative abundance of amphipods around Andaman-Nicobar Islands

The present study deals with the quantitative distribution and abundance of amphipods of the Andaman Sea in time and space, based on the zooplankton samples collected during the cruises 46- 73 of FORV Sagar Sampada during 1988-1990. Mean number of amphipods (no/1000 m ) reached the maximum of 1763 in January and the minimum of 315 in July. The seasonal density was maximum during the northeast monsoon and minimum for the southwest monsoon and their mean numbers were estimated as 812 and 463/1000 m respectively. In general, they were abundant in the region where the station depths ranged between 50 and 100 m with the mean estimated as 800/1000 m of water. Analysis of day and night samples did not show any remarkable variation. The distribution and abundance of amphipods in relation to time and space are discussed in the paper.