Relationships between particle-grazing zooplankton and vertical phytoplankton distributions on the Texas continental shelf

This study compares vertical distributions of Penilia avirostris and Temora turbinata with vertical distributions of chlorophyll a over short time periods at a station in the north-western Gulf of Mexico in the summer and early fall of 1978. In June and July 1978 chlorophyll a and turbidity increased below the thermocline. In September 1978 chlorophyll a was concentrated in the upper mixed layer while turbidity was greatest near the bottom.In June and July P. avirostris and copepodites of T. turbinata were concentrated within the subsurface chlorophyll a layer. Adult T. turbinata were more widely distributed than the copepodites in June but apparently migrated diurnally in July. In September, abundance of all animals generally decreased slightly with depth. This change in animal distribution reflected changes in biotic and abiotic varlables between this cruise and previous cruises. In all cruises, animal distributions were positively correlated with chlorophyll a suggesting that food was the primary influence on distributions of these animals.