| Summary: | <p> The mesozooplankton community, with special emphasis on calanoid copepods, was studied with respect to its species composition, abundance, vertical distribution and developmental structure during the Ice Station POLarstern(ISPOL) expedition to the ice-covered western Weddell Sea. Stratified zooplankton tows were carried out nine times between 1 December 2004 and 2 January 2005 with a multiple opening/closing net between 0 and 1000 m depth. Copepods were by far the most abundant taxon, contributing more than 94% of the total mesozooplankton. ... <i>Calanoides acutus</i> and <i>Metridia gerlachei</i> represented other abundant calanoid species contributing an average of 8% and 7%, respectively. All other species comprised less than 3%. ... The Ice Station POLarstern(ISPOL) expedition provided the opportunity to continue the investigations on zooplankton in the western Weddell Sea but in a different season, in spring 2004. The aims of the present study were the analyses of the zooplankton communities under perennial sea ice cover in the western Weddell Sea during the transition from spring to early summer with emphasis on major differences in abundance, vertical distribution and stage composition of the three dominating calanoid copepods <i>Microcalanus pygmaeus</i>, <i>C. acutus</i> and <i>Metridia gerlachei</i>.\" (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2007.12.013)
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