Zooplankton of the Inner Bay of Fundy

• Published in: Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada
• Main Author: Jermolajev, E. G.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1958
• Subjects: General Medicine; Inner Bay; Calanus finmarchicus; Pseudocalanus minutus
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f58-065; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f58-065

The inner Bay of Fundy and Minas Channel are practically devoid of locally produced zooplankton. The few plankters present are either estuarine species from Minas Basin and Chignecto Bay or immigrants from the Gulf of Maine. The former (Acartia tonsa, Eurytemora herdmani, Centropages hamatus, Pseudodiaptomus coronatus and Canuella canadensis) are abundant inland with shallowing and heavy river discharge. The latter (Calanus finmarchicus, Sagitta elegans, Pseudocalanus minutus, Oithona similis and Parafavella gigantea) all show a similar distribution, being abundant in the mouth of the Bay, but declining greatly going inward. Also, Calanus specimens from the inner Bay have little or no fat, which indicates a lack of food there.The extreme paucity of all zooplankton in Minas Channel is apparently caused by heavy and deep turbulence, which prevents development of phytoplankton on which the animals depend for food.