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JPR Advance Access originally published online on June 6, 2008
Journal of Plankton Research 2008 30(9):969-979; doi:10.1093/plankt/fbn064
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Temporal and vertical distributions of three appendicularian species (Tunicata) in Conception Bay, Newfoundland

Nami Choe* and Don Deibel

Ocean Sciences Centre, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, Newfoundland, Canada A1C 5S7

* CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: c56nc{at}mun.ca

Received on March 18, 2008; accepted on June 4, 2008


  Abstract

Temporal and vertical distributions of the boreal appendicularian species Oikopleura vanhoeffeni, Fritillaria borealis and O. labradoriensis were observed in Conception Bay, Newfoundland, over a 1-year period in order to determine whether they share the same environmental niche. Total abundance of the three species together peaked after the spring maximum of chlorophyll a concentration, indicating that appendicularian abundance was generally related to the biomass of phytoplankton. The seasonal peak abundance of the three species did not overlap in time. The maximum abundance of O. vanhoeffeni occurred in May and June during the spring phytoplankton bloom, that of F. borealis occurred in July and August as upper mixed layer temperature increased and salinity decreased and that of O. labradoriensis occurred in October when salinity was at its annual minimum. Vertical distribution also differed among the species. Oikopleura vanhoeffeni occurred primarily below the surface layer and remained below the thermocline in summer. The vertical distribution of F. borealis was not correlated with the observed environmental variables, whereas O. labradoriensis occurred primarily at depths of minimum salinity. Each species displayed a distinct niche based on temperature and salinity. Oikopleura vanhoeffeni was a cryophile with a stenothermal and stenohaline niche, F. borealis was eurythermic and euryhaline and O. labradoriensis inhabited a mesothermal and mesohaline niche. These results indicate physical niche separation among these three sympatric, arcto-boreal appendicularian species and provide information from which future changes in their abundance and spatial distribution can be predicted given likely climatic variation.

Corresponding editor: Roger Harris


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