Composieionand daily variation of zooplankton in the estuary of Pina (Brazil- PE) was studied based on 200L of water filtered at surface through a net mesh size of 69 Jlm, during the dry (January-February/91) and the rainy (June-July/91) seasons. The samplcs were collected with time interval of three hours, during a daylight period. Concurrent hydrological data were obtained. Nineteen taxon of zooplankton were registered, including meroplankton, of which the most abundant was Favella ehrenbergi, followed by Brachionus plicatilis, Copepoda nauplii and Oithona osvaldocnlzi (♀). Higher quantitatives values occured in the dry reason. The maximum registered was 411,7490rg.m-3 and the minimum 2,6230rg.m-3 . The tidal currents were the main factor influencing the zooplankton spacial variation. Specific diversity was low, highlighting selcctive processes in the Pina estuary.
Zooplankton; Estuary; Community composition; Diurnal and seasonal variation; Species divcrsity; Brazil