Abundance, biomass, ingestion rates and daily ratios of Salpa thompsoni individuals sampled during POLARSTERN cruise ANT-XVIII/5b to the Eastern Belingshausen Sea ...

• Main Authors: Pakhomov, Evgeny A, Dubischar, Corinna D, Strass, Volker H, Brichta, Mauricio, Bathmann, Ulrich
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2015
• Subjects: AWI; Priority Programme 1158 Antarctic Research with Comparable Investigations in Arctic Sea Ice Areas SPP1158; Antarctic; Arctic; Bellingshausen Sea; Southern Ocean; Antarc*; Antarktis*; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.847636; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.847636

Distribution, density, and feeding dynamics of the pelagic tunicate Salpa thompsoni have been investigated during the expedition ANTARKTIS XVIII/5b to the Eastern Bellingshausen Sea on board RV Polarstern in April 2001. This expedition was the German contribution to the field campaign of the Southern Ocean Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics Study (SO-GLOBEC). Salps were found at 31% of all RMT-8 and Bongo stations. Their densities in the RMT-8 samples were low and did not exceed 4.8 ind/m**2 and 7.4 mg C/m**2. However, maximum salp densities sampled with the Bongo net reached 56 ind/m**2 and 341 mg C/m**2. A bimodal salp length frequency distribution was recorded over the shelf, and suggested two recent budding events. This was also confirmed by the developmental stage composition of solitary forms. Ingestion rates of aggregate forms increased from 2.8 to 13.9 µg (pig)/ind/day or from 0.25 to 2.38 mg C/ind/day in salps from 10 to 40 mm oral-atrial length, accounting for 25-75% of body carbon per day. Faecal ... : Supplement to: Pakhomov, Evgeny A; Dubischar, Corinna D; Strass, Volker H; Brichta, Mauricio; Bathmann, Ulrich (2006): The tunicate Salpa thompsoni ecology in the Southern Ocean. I. Distribution, biomass, demography and feeding ecophysiology. Marine Biology, 149(3), 609-623 ...