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Vol. 53, 2014
Water mass transport through the northern Bashi Channel in
the northeastern South China Sea affects copepod assemblages of the
Luzon Strait
Wen-Tseng
Lo1, Hans-Uwe Dahms1,2 and Jiang-Shiou Hwang3*
1Department
of Marine Biotechnology and Resources, National Sun Yat-Sen University,
No. 70, Lienhai Road, Kaoshiung 804, Taiwan
2Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental
Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, No. 100, Shin-Chuan 1st Road,
Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan
3Institute of Marine Biology, National Taiwan Ocean
University, Keelung 202, Taiwan
Abstract
Background: It is controversial to
what extent the intrusion of the Kuroshio Branch Current to the Luzon
Strait and the South China Sea circulation can shape copepod
assemblages around southern Taiwan. We tested the hypothesis that
currents such as the Kuroshio Current bring marine zooplankton and
copepods from subtropical and tropical waters to the south of Taiwan.
We studied copepod assemblages from the Bashi Channel in the
northeastern South China Sea at the coast of southwest Taiwan during
early October 1996.
Results: A total of 77 copepod species were
identified from 34 genera that included calanoids, cyclopoids,
harpacticoids, and poecilostomatoids. Several indicator species suggest
that the study area is highly influenced by water masses from the
northern South China Sea as well as from the Kuroshio Current. Acrocalanus gracilis
(Paracalanidae, Calanoida) was most abundant (with a relative abundance
(RA) of 22.07 and an occurrence rate (OR) of 100%), followed by Paracalanus aculeatus (Paracalanidae,
Calanoida) and Oncaea venusta (Cyclopoida). The stations close to the
Kuroshio Current showed a higher species diversity (H') and a higher
species richness with 3.9 to 4.6 at moderate abundance, whereas station
11 showed lowest species diversity (H') with (2.1), accompanied by the
far lowest species number (14)
and abundance (880 ind./100 m3).
Conclusions: Several indicator
species suggest that the study area is highly influenced by water
masses from the northern South China Sea as well as from the Kuroshio
Current.
Key words: Marine plankton; Community ecology;
Copepoda; Current regimes; Kuroshio Branch Current; Bashi Channel.
*Correspondence: E-mail: Jshwang@mail.ntou.edu.tw
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