Winter distribution of zooplankton around some sandbanks (Gootebank, Westhinder and Buitenratel sandbanks) of the Belgian coast was investigated during Campagin 1994 as part of a multidisciplinary study on seabird distribution and related to ecological features of the Belgian Continental Flat. The objectives of this study were to identify and quantify species composition of zooplankton communities at different sandbanks and to correlate zooplankton distribution with environmental variables (temperature, salinity and turbidity) and phytoplankton distribution as reported by Kesaulya (1995). All samples were identified up to the genus and species level. Results showed that there were 49 zooplankton species identified all over the three stations. The species belonged to the phyla: Arthropoda, Chordata, Cnidaria, Chaetognatha, Annelida, Mollusca and Ctenophora (Table 2). Arthropod was the most abundant phyla (90.8%-98.07%) identified all over the three sandbanks with copepod mostly Temora longicornis, followed by P. elongatus and C. hamatus dominating in that order (Table 3). Twinspan analysis (Figure 8) showed a rather undistinctive division of the three sandbanks although dendogram splits the samples into two different groups, one mainly dominated by Gootebank samples and the other group mainly by Westhinder samples. Results from Correspondence analysis (CCA), showed that the species distribution was significantly (Monte Carlo, p<0.05) affected by the environmental variables and diatom and non diatom ratio of the phytoplankton. Man-Whitney U Test showed no significant difference (p>0.05) in diversity (or Simpson's index) over the three sandbanks. It is suggested that more studies on the distribution of zooplankton on this area must be conducted in each time of the year for three years to better understand the relationship of the different parameters that may influence its distribution.
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