Seasonal changes in mesozooplankton swimmers collected by sediment trap moored at a single station on the Northwind Abyssal Plain in the western Arctic Ocean

• Published in: Journal of Plankton Research
• Main Authors: Matsuno, Kohei, Yamaguchi, Atsushi, Fujiwara, Amane, Onodera, Jonaotaro, Watanabe, Eiji, Imai, Ichiro, Chiba, Sanae, Harada, Naomi, Kikuchi, Takashi
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2013
• Subjects: Article; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Northwind Abyssal Plain; Pacific; Calanus hyperboreus; Zooplankton; Copepods
• Online Access: http://plankt.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/fbt092v1; https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbt092

To examine seasonal changes in the mesozooplankton community, analyses were made on the swimmer samples (>1 mm) collected by a sediment trap mooring at 184 m depth on the Northwind Abyssal Plain in the western Arctic Ocean during October 2010–September 2011. The zooplankton swimmer flux ranged from 5 to 44 ind. m−2 day−1 and was greater during July to October; copepods were the dominant taxon. Based on the zooplankton swimmer flux, cluster analysis classified samples into three groups (A, B-1 and B-2). The occurrence of each group showed clear seasonality; group A was observed during July to October, group B-1 was seen in November to January and group B-2 during March to June. The seasonal variability in population structures of four dominant copepod swimmers was clearly different between the species. Most Calanus hyperboreus were copepodid stage 6 female (C6F) throughout the year. For Metridia longa and Paraeuchaeta glacialis , C6Fs dominated during January to May, and early copepodid stages increased during June to October. Heterorhabdus norvegicus was dominated by stage C5 during November to February, and C6F/M during March to May. Since Pacific copepods ( Neocalanus cristatus ) occurred in significant number during August–September, possible causes are discussed.