Springtime abundance of chaetognaths in the shelf region of the northern Gulf of Alaska, with observations on the vertical distribution and feeding of Sagitta elegans

• Published in: Fisheries Oceanography
• Main Authors: BRODEUR, RICHARD D., TERAZAKI, MAKOTO
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1999
• Subjects: Alaska; Copepods
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2419.1999.00099.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1046%2Fj.1365-2419.1999.00099.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1365-2419.1999.00099.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1046/j.1365-2419.1999.00099.x

Chaetognatha were among the most dominant macrozooplankton taxa collected in 6 years of springtime collections, both throughout the water column and near‐bottom on the continental shelf in the northern Gulf of Alaska. Three species ( Sagitta elegans, S. scrippsae, and Eukrohnia hamata ) were collected in 248 collections, although S. elegans was the numerically dominant species overall during most cruises. Collections taken in epibenthic sleds generally contained about two orders of magnitude more chaetognaths than those that sampled throughout the water column. Two size modes were apparent in the S. elegans size‐frequency distributions which were believed to belong to different cohorts. Growth rate was on the order of 2–3 mm per month. The two cohorts showed asynchronous diel vertical distribution patterns, with the smaller individuals found near the surface during the day whereas the larger individuals were near the surface at night. About 7.5% of the S. elegans examined contained food. Copepods made up the majority (∼89% by number) of the diet of both large and small individuals. Euphausiid juveniles and cirripede larvae were also observed, as well as several incidences of cannibalism by large chaetognaths on smaller individuals. Based on the results of two diel series, this species was observed to feed mainly during the night‐time.