Zooplankton communities and oceanographic structures in a high-resolution grid in the south-eastern corner of the Bay of Biscay

A one year long monthly sampling series at a fixed station was combined with a high-spatial resolution survey (May 2003) to investigate factors controlling zooplankton distribution in the south-eastern corner of the Bay of Biscay. Species abundance and gonad maturity for Calanoides carinatus and Calanus helgolandicus were estimated to clarify whether the observed spatial patterns were attributable to increased population growth or to mechanical accumulation. The two studies included distinct oceanographic regimes. The eastern corner of the grid was characterized by Adour river plume waters and the Cap Breton canyon, and the rest of the area by an alternating pattern of physical convergences and divergences. In the river plume, the zooplankton community diversity and abundances were highest in response to the nutrient enriched river plume waters and the submarine canyon. In the rest of the area, distribution and abundance patterns were the result of a combination of behaviour and physical transport.     

Direct examination of the dietary preference of the copepod<Emphasis Type="Italic">calanus helgolandicus</Emphasis> using the colorimetric approach

The food selectivity of tethered females of the copepodCalanus helgolandicus was examined by using the colorimetric approach. First, feeding behavior of the copepod did not show any differences between the red-color stained with neutral red and non-stained diets using the diatomCoscinodiscus curvatulus. Then, the copepods were fed a mixtures of two diets, the diatomC. curvatulus, stained with neutral red, and the dinoflagellateGymnodinium sanguineum for 14~60 minutes of feeding duration. The foregut colors of females were examined using a stereo-microscope and a video monitor. The foreguts of animals fed with a high density of diatoms in mixed diets showed a dark red color, whereas those fed with a high density of dinoflagellate in mixed diets were a dark yellow. The results suggest that this species of copepod may not selectively feed either one of the diets used for this study. Their feeding activity may be more likely related to the density of available prey in their environment. Therefore, this quick and easy colorimetric approach could provide very useful information, like the pre-screening procedure before designing and conducting the time-consuming and complex feeding experiments to understand the feeding ecology of copepods.     

低氧对中华哲水蚤存活和繁殖影响的实验研究

为研究低氧对海洋浮游生物关键种存活、繁殖等的影响,作者采用了实验室模拟低氧环境的方法,研究了低溶解氧(dissolved oxygen, DO)浓度对中华哲水蚤(Calanus sinicus)致死率、产卵和孵化的影响.研究发现,中华哲水蚤对低氧环境比较敏感,当DO质量浓度为2 mg/L左右时,中华哲水蚤会在1 h内全部死亡;当DO质量浓度为3 mg/L左右时,中华哲水蚤会在96 h内全部死亡;当DO质量浓度为4~6 mg/L 时,基本无死亡,但对中华哲水蚤的产卵有明显抑制作用,首次产卵时间推迟,产卵周期缩短.当DO质量浓度为4 mg/L时,基本不产卵,当DO质量浓度为6 mg/L时,产卵量也仅为常氧组的15%左右.当DO质量浓度为4~6 mg/L时,中华哲水蚤所产卵的孵化率为常氧组的60%左右,但差异不显著.可见,低氧对中华哲水蚤的存活和繁殖均有抑制作用,长时间低氧很可能会降低中华哲水蚤的种群数量,甚至改变海洋生态系统结构.     

Seasonal distribution of Calanus sinicus (Copepoda, Crustacea) in the East China Sea

On the basis of the four-season investigation in 23°30′~33°N and 118°30′~128°E of the East China Sea from 1997 to 2000, the seasonal distribution of Calanus sinicus was studied with aggregation intensity, regression contribution and other statistical methods. It was inferred that C. sinicus’s predominance presented from winter to summer, especially in spring and summer, because its dominance amounted to 0.62 and 0.29 respectively. The percent of its abundance in copepod abundance was 76.71% in summer, greater than 66.60% in spring, greater than 19.02% in winter, greater than 4.02% in autumn. The occurrence frequency in winter and spring was 83.08% and 93.89%, higher than that in summer and autumn, 76.71% and 73.87%. Compared with other dominant species of copepods, C. sinicus’s contribution to the copepod abundance was obviously greater than that of the other species in winter, summer and spring, but smaller in autumn. C. sinicus tended to have an aggregated distribution. The clumping index peaked in summer (50.19), followed in spring (19.60), declined in autumn (13.18) and was the lowest in winter (3.04). The abundance changed in different seasons and areas, relating to temperature but not salinity in spring and autumn, to salinity but not temperature in summer; to neither temperature nor salinity in winter. In spring and summer, its high abundance area was often located in the mixed water mass formed by the Taiwan Warm Current, the Huanghai Sea Cold Water Mass, the coastal water masses and the Changjiang Dilute Water. In spring and autumn, its abundance was affected by the warm current, as well as the runoff from continental rivers affected it in summer. It can be inferred that C. sinicus was adapted to wide salinity and temperature, as a euryhalinous and eurythermous species in the East China Sea.