The temporal variability of Centropages typicus in the Mediterranean Sea: From seasonal to decadal scales

• Published in: Progress in Oceanography
• Main Authors: Mazzocchi, M. G., Christou, E.D., Di Capua, I., Luz Fernández de Puelles, M., Fonda-Umani, S., Molinero, Juan Carlos, Siokou-Frangou, I.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2007
• Subjects: North Atlantic; North Atlantic oscillation; Copepods
• Online Access: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/3173/; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/3173/1/Mazzochi.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2007.01.004

Centropages typicus is one of the most common, abundant and best studied calanoid copepods in neritic waters of the Mediterranean Sea, which means it can provide useful information about the long-term dynamics of the Mediterranean epipelagic ecosystem. This paper presents the first comparative overview of the seasonal and long-term variability of C. typicus in different Mediterranean regions. This review is based on quantitative information from the published literature and novel data from five ongoing zooplankton time-series carried out in the Mallorca Island (Balearic Sea), the Bay of Villefranche (Ligurian Sea), the Gulf of Naples (Tyrrhenian Sea), the Gulf of Trieste (North Adriatic Sea), and the Saronikos Gulf (Aegean Sea). In most Mediterranean regions, C. typicus has a perennial occurrence, with peaks of abundance that reflect the succession of different generations. Throughout the Mediterranean, the annual cycle of C. typicus is characterized by minima in winter and major peaks in April–June, which is earlier than those observed in European Atlantic waters, where the peaks are more frequently recorded in summer and fall. In the regions investigated, the annual cycle shows remarkable similarities in terms of timing, but notable differences in the peak height; populations are far more abundant in coastal north-western regions and less abundant in the eastern basin. In the long-term, changes in C. typicus phenology observed in the Bay of Villefranche and in the Gulf of Naples are related to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index. In these two regions, the species responds to climate forcing similarly in terms of average seasonal patterns (bi-modal patterns in years of positive NAO, unimodal patterns in years of negative NAO) but oppositely in terms of quantity, indicating different influence of the NAO on the two regions. At decadal scales, C. typicus populations show high interannual variability with marked geographical differences. In some areas, the patterns are clearly characterized by alternate ...