JOURNAL OF PLANKTON RESEARCH | VOLUME 6 | NUMBER 6 | PAGES 1031-1056 | 1984
© Oxford University Press
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Vertical zonation patterns for Mediterranean copepods from the surface to 3000 m at a fixed station in the Tyrrhenian Sea
Stazione Zoologica di Napoli Italy 1Bioloski Institut P.O. Box 39, Dubrovnik, Jugoslavia
Received on April 1, 1984; accepted on August 1, 1984 The vertical zonation and community structure of Mediterranean copepods collected from the surface to 3000 m in the Tyrrhenian Sea were examined for different depth intervals and periods of the year. Three major copepod communities, identified using multivariate analysis techniques, differed mainly in species composition and less in depth distribution from those reported for the open ocean. The surface community (0–100 m) included numerous offshore species comprising relatively uniform but quantitatively poor populations. These included a number of coastal forms that dominated offshore waters at certain periods of the year. The midwater community (100–600 m) consisted of species that were primarily confined to intermediate waters, of which few underwent extensive vertical migrations. The deep community (>600 m) consisted essentially of intermediate- water species with ample distribution ranges that formed a true bathypelagic community at these depths. Temporal changes in community structure affected only surface populations and diminished very rapidly with increasing depth. Species composition in deep layers was not affected by did and seasonal changes. Biomass distribution patterns indicated that the low quantities of plankton recorded for deep layers were probably related to low surface standing crops for this region. The relationship between surface and deep biomass values appeared similar to those reported for open ocean systems suggesting that the efficiency of the deep Mediterranean subsystem was not offset by the absence of a true bathypelagic fauna.
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