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JPR Advance Access first published online on December 17, 2005
This version published online on December 18, 2005
Journal of Plankton Research, doi:10.1093/plankt/fbi115
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received August 26, 2005
Accepted December 9, 2005

Article

Integrating conventional microscopy and molecular analysis to analyse the abundance and distribution of four Calanus congeners in the North Atlantic

P. K. Lindeque 1 *, S. J. Hay 2, M. R. Heath 2, A. Ingvarsdottir 3, J. Rasmussen 2, G. R. Smerdon 1, and J. J. Waniek 4

1 Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, West Hoe, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
2 FRS Marine Laboratory, Victoria Road, Aberdeen, AB11 9DB, UK
3 University of Aberdeen, Department of Zoology, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen AB9 2TN, UK
4 Institut für Ostseeforschung Warnemünde Seestraße 15, D18119 Rostock, Germany

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
P. K. Lindeque, E-mail: pkw{at}pml.ac.uk


  Abstract

Analysis of the demographic structure of Calanus species in the North Atlantic presents particular difficulties due to the overlapping spatial distributions of four main congeneric species (Calanus finmarchicus, Calanus helgolandicus Calanus glacialis and Calanus hyperboreus). These species have similar morphologies making microscopic discrimination only possible between some of the species at late copepodite or adult stages.

However, molecular techniques now offer the possibility of screening significant numbers of specimens and unambiguously identifying them to species, regardless of developmental stage. Unfortunately, the processing rate of specimens by molecular methods is still too low to offer a realistic alternative to microscopy for analysis of samples from large field surveys. Here we outline and test an approach involving the use of molecular methodology in conjunction with conventional microscopy to assess the species assignment of developmental stage abundances of Calanus congeners.

Our study has highlighted a number of important methodological issues. First, it cannot be assumed that the species composition is homogeneous across the development stages; applying proportional species composition of adults to morphologically undistinguishable earlier development stages can result in error. The second important conclusion is that prosome length may be a highly unreliable discriminator of C. finmarchicus and C. glacialis.

Communicating Editor: RP Harris
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