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Vol. 52, 2013
Geospatial variability in the autumn community structure of
epipelagic zooplankton in the upper layer of the northern South China
Sea
Li-Chun
Tseng1†, Hans-Uwe Dahms2†, Qing-Chao Chen3
and Jiang-Shiou Hwang1*
1Institute of Marine Biology, National Taiwan Ocean University, 2 Pei-Ning Road, Keelung 20224, Taiwan
2Green Life Science Department, College of Convergence, Sangmyung University, Seoul 110-743, South Korea
3South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China
Abstract
Background: For the present study,
we collected mesozooplankton in the upper layer (above 100 m in depth)
of four stations in the northern South China Sea (SCS) to determine the
influence of different water masses on their distribution and abundance
from 27 September to 2 October 1999.
Results: In total, 18 major zooplankton taxa were
recovered from the samples. Calanoid copepods, Noctilucales, and
chaetognaths were dominant and together comprised 65.90% of the overall
zooplankton counts. Zooplankton densities ranged from 102.19 to
1,285.24 individuals per cubic meters (ind./m3) (average,
306.38 ± 435.71). Noctilucales were abundant at stations located in the
Kuroshio Current (KC) intrusion area. Integrating all samples, 32
copepod species were identified consisting of 23 genera belonging to 16
families. Total copepod abundances ranged from 30.24 to 311.17 ind./m3
(average, 99.14 ± 97.84). Numerically, Pleuromamma gracilis, Nannocalanus minor, and Lucicutia flavicornis were the most dominant
species. The most frequently occurring species in all samples were Acartia (Acartia) negligens and Corycaeus (Farranula) gibbula. Results of a cluster
analysis indicated that community structures of zooplankton and
copepods of the northern SCS varied at geospatial scales during the
sampling period.
Conclusions: Results of the present
study suggest that the composition and community structure of
zooplankton and copepods were influenced by intrusion of the KC in the
shallow layer above 100 m in depth in the northern SCS. Some indicator
species characteristic of the KC indicated that the study area received
water masses from the northern SCS and the KC.
Key words: Community structure; Zooplankton;
Copepod; Upper layer; South China Sea.
*Correspondence: E-mail: jshwang@mail.ntou.edu.tw †Equal
contributors
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