ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil Advance Access originally published online on March 5, 2008
ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 2008 65(3):433-442; doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsn010
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This article appears in the following ICES Journal of Marine Science issue: 4th International Zooplankton Production Symposium: Human and Climate Forcing of Zooplankton Populations [View the issue table of contents]
Global zoogeography of fragile macrozooplankton in the upper 100–1000 m inferred from the underwater video profiler
1 Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, UMR 7093, Villefranche sur Mer F-06234, France
2 Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche (LOV), BP 28, 06234 Villefranche sur Mer Cedex, France
3 School of Environmental Systems Engineering, University of Western Australia, Western Australia, Australia
4 Department of Biology, University of Bergen, PO Box 7800, N-5020 Bergen, Norway
5 Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, 5600 US 1 North, Fort Pierce, FL 34946, USA
Correspondence to L. Stemmann: tel: +33 493763811; fax: +33 493763834; e-mail: stemmann{at}obs-vlr.fr
Stemmann, L., Youngbluth, M., Robert, K., Hosia, A., Picheral, M., Paterson, H., Ibanez, F., Guidi, L., Lombard, F., and Gorsky, G. 2008. Global zoogeography of fragile macrozooplankton in the upper 100–1000 m inferred from the underwater video profiler. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 433–442.Mesopelagic gelatinous zooplankton fauna are insufficiently known because of inappropriate and infrequent sampling, but may have important trophic roles. In situ imaging systems and undersea vehicles have been used to investigate their diversity, distribution, and abundance. The use of different platforms, however, restricts the comparison of data from different regions. Starting in 2001, the underwater video profiler (UVP) was deployed during 12 cruises in six oceanic regimes (Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic shelves, Mid-Atlantic Ridge, tropical Pacific Ocean, eastern Indian Ocean, and Subantarctic Ocean) to determine the vertical distribution of organisms in the upper 1000 m. Nine oceanic regions were identified based on the hydrological properties of the water column. They correspond to nine of the biogeochemical provinces defined by Longhurst. In all, 21 morphotypes were recognized: sarcodines (eight groups), ctenophores (two groups), siphonophores, medusae (five groups), crustaceans (one group), chaetognaths, appendicularians, salps, and fish. The similarity in the community assemblages of zooplankton in the 100–1000 m layer was significantly greater within regions than between regions, in most cases. The regions with comparable composition were located in the North Atlantic with adjacent water masses, suggesting that the assemblages were either mixed by advective transport or that environmental conditions were similar in mesopelagic layers. The data suggest that the spatial structuring of mesopelagic macrozooplankton occurs on large scales (e.g. basin scales) but not necessarily on smaller scales (e.g. oceanic front).
Keywords: biogeochemical province, gelatinous zooplankton, mesopelagic, underwater video profiler, zoogeography
Received 11 July 2007; accepted 30 November 2007; advance access publication 5 March 2008.