Tintinnids of Chesterfield Inlet, Northwest Territories

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Zoology
• Main Authors: Rogers, G. F., Roff, J. C., Lynn, D. H.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1981
• Subjects: Animal Science and Zoology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Northwest Territories; Hudson Bay; Hudson; Chesterfield Inlet
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z81-315; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z81-315

Tintinnids were numerically dominant in plankton samples collected from Chesterfield Inlet, Northwest Territories, in September 1978. Thirteen species were identified, 11 of which are new records for the Hudson Bay area. Tintinnopsis fimbriata and T. angusta were the most numerous tintinnids in the upper estuary at salinities below 24‰; their cell numbers were significantly positively correlated to temperature. Parafavella denticulata was the most abundant species in marine waters but it penetrated the estuary to salinities as low as 4‰. Cell numbers and volumes of P. denticulata were significantly positively correlated to salinity and negatively to chlorophyll; this species appeared to act as an almost conservative indicator of marine influence in this estuary. The distributions of the two Tintinnopsis species were not so readily explained, but maximum numbers of T. fimbriata and T. angusta corresponded to a phytoplankton maximum at station 29 in the middle estuary.