In zooplankton communities, environmental and biological factors act simultaneously and can interact synergistically favoring the presence and/or absence of certain species. The abundance, composition and temporal variation of zooplankton were analyzed in two neritic environments (Turpialito inlet and Los Lobos islets) in northeastern Venezuela. The samples were collected biweekly (June 2010 - November 2011), with a diaphragm pump and filtered through a 100 μm sieve. Temperature, salinity, concentration of dissolved oxygen, seston, chlorophyll a, phytoplankton and zooplankton abundance were measured. The upwelling index was calculated from the wind data. In Turpialito the temperature ranged between 23.6 - 30.1 °C, salinity between 31 - 39 and Chlorophyll a between ND - 2.3 mg.m-3, while in Los Lobos islets the variations were between 24 - 29.5 °C, 36 - 38.6 and ND - 7.3 mg.m-3, respectively. In Los Lobos, a higher total zooplankton abundance (384,271 org.m-3) than Turpialito (107,414 org.m-3) was detected, as well as the greater number of zooplankton groups (19 groups). The results reflected spatial and temporal variability in terms of zooplankton abundance (Permanova, F = 54.68; F = 3.51; p <0.05), while the composition varied spatially (Permanova, F = 14.53, p <0.05). The MDS-SIMPER showed dissimilarity (55.72%) between the localities for copepods, decapod larvae and cladocerans. During the coastal upwelling period, greater zooplankton abundance was recorded in both localities, with more notable magnitudes in Los Lobos islets and with frequent organisms of oceanic waters, supported by the geographical location of this locality.