Zooplanktonic Communities of the Divergence Zone in the Northwestern Alboran Sea

Abstract. Using principal component analysis, the zooplanktonic communities of the divergence zone in the northwestern sector of the Alboran Sea were studied. The study was based on 35 vertical trawls in the 200 metres superficial level. The two first components account for 65 % of the total variance. The first component is a contrast between a warm water coastal community (characterized by low specific diversity and the abundance of Cladocera and Copepoda such as Acartia clausi, Centropages chierchiae and Temora stylifera) and a community of cold subsuperficial water distinguished by high specific diversity and a low number of individuals, one of its most characteristic elements being the eggs and larval stages of the Conostomasidae Maurolicus muelleri. The second component appears to be associated with an ecotone between the communities previously cited, and with a specific grouping (Rhincalanus nasutus, Eucalanus monachiis, Pseudocalanus elongatus, Temora longicornis , etc.) resulting from the peripheral displacement of subsuperficial elements brought to the surface by the cyclonic circulation of water masses between the Atlantic current and the Spanish coast.