ISSN:
1573-5117
Keywords:
Centropages
;
seasonal distribution
;
temperature effects
;
dominance index
;
interspecifc association
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
Notes:
Abstract The copepod fauna of Middle Atlantic Bight waters regularly includes four species of Centropages: C. typicus, C. hamatus, C. velificatus, and C. bradyi. Seasonal collections of copepods with coarse-meshed (0.5 mm) bongo and neuston nets were often dominated by one of these congeners. A fifth species, C. violaceus, occurs very rarely, presumably as an expatriate from the Gulf Stream. C. typicus was the dominant large copepod in most seasons, especially at midshelf, but was largely replaced by Calanus finmarchicus after a severely cold winter (1977). The other Centropages species were less abundant and widespread: C. hamatus dominated inshore collections during winter and spring of 1977; C. bradyi was restricted mostly to outer shelf stations and was never abundant; C. velificatus appeared more frequently in the southern Bight, where it dominated a few inner shelf neuston collections in summer and fall. Except for the dominant and year-round C. typicus, Centropages congeners within the Middle Atlantic Bight were variously separated, temporally and spatially. C. bradyi and C. hamatus were completely separated into depths 〉 50 m and 〈 50 m, respectively, in seasons when both were collected. The cold-water C. hamatus was largely separated by season from C. velificatus, the congener with preference for warm temperatures. Winter and spring occurrences of the latter were limited to offshore, southern stations, away from inshore abundances of C. hamatus. Since C. velificatus was abundant only at inshore locations, it was also typically separate from the offshore C. bradyi.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00026309
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