Community structure of zooplankton in eastern Hudson Bay

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Zoology
• Main Authors: Rochet, Martine, Grainger, E. H.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1988
• Subjects: Animal Science and Zoology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Hudson Bay; Hudson; Belcher; Belcher Islands; Canadian Archipelago; Zooplankton; James Bay
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z88-237; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z88-237

Twenty-five zooplankton stations in eastern Hudson Bay were grouped into four geographical regions on the basis of salinity and temperature. One region, of high salinity and low temperature in deep water, showed a preponderance of arctic zooplankton. The second, with moderate salinity, low temperature, and shallow depths, supported mainly meroplanktonic larvae. The third, less saline and warmer in the upper levels, supported a euryhaline fauna, and the shallower fourth region sustained a fauna with still wider salinity tolerance. Strong pycnocline development supported a near-surface euryhaline fauna below which the arctic faunal element was concentrated in deeper water. Less stratified water, where pycnocline development was slight or absent, inhibited establishment of a euryhaline fauna and permitted a greater near-surface presence of the arctic zooplankton. The major zoogeographic element in eastern Hudson Bay, and probably in most of the bay, is arctic, reflecting the continuity of this area with the primarily arctic waters of the Canadian archipelago and the surface of the Arctic Ocean. Carried cyclonically around the bay, the arctic fauna penetrates the eastern sector, especially north of the Belcher Islands. The euryhaline fauna indicates the influence of James Bay, mainly in the southeastern extremity of the bay.