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Small copepods of the deep South Adriatic Pit: diversity, seasonal and multi-annual dynamics, and implications from the regional hydrography

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Abstract

In order to expand the fragmentary knowledge on the interactions between the environment and copepod distribution in the deep offshore Adriatic Sea, microcopepod assemblages were investigated during 31 cruises in the 1200-m deep central part of the South Adriatic Pit (SAP), from May 1998 to December 2009. Samples were collected in 8 depth layers, using a 53-μm mesh Nansen net equipped with a closing system. The taxonomic composition and vertical and temporal distributions of copepod abundances were analyzed, considering naupliar stages for all species combined, total calanoid copepodites, copepodite stages and adults separately for oithonids and oncaeids, and all post-naupliar stages combined of harpacticoids and mormonilloids. Corycaeid copepods are not considered in the present study. Data are presented for 41 non-calanoid copepod species, as well as for 7 undetermined morphospecies. Within the family Oncaeidae, four species new to the Adriatic Sea fauna are registered. Nauplii were generally the numerically dominant group, especially in the upper epipelagic layers, where they outnumbered all total post-naupliar stages by a factor of an average 3.5. Oncaeids were notably abundant, accounting in total post-naupliar copepods for an average proportion of 33% in the upper 50 m and 74% between 300- and 400-m depth. In the epipelagic zone, copepod abundances were enhanced by the cyclonic circulation which enriches the central part of the SAP with new primary production. A strong advection of Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) influenced the post-naupliar abundances also in mesopelagic and deeper layers, by promoting the sinking of heavy water mass from the connected middle Adriatic sub-basin which enhances the trophic conditions and transports new organisms into the deeper layers of the SAP. Therefore, the variability in copepod abundances was influenced not only by the seasonal temperature fluctuations but also by the productivity conditions in the SAP which are connected to the movements of regional water masses and the resulting effects on the internal Adriatic circulation.

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Acknowledgments

We are indebted to the anonymous reviewers who assisted us in improving the manuscript, as well as to colleague Dr. M. Čalić for the interpretation of Chl a data. The authors also wish to thank the technicians and the crew of r/v “BIOS” for their long-term technical support during the cruises.

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The research was financially supported by the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia and the Croatian national monitoring project “Jadran”.

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  1. Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries Split, Ivana Meštrovića 63, 21000, Split, Croatia

    Frano Kršinić & Olja Vidjak

  2. GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, c/o Moorsehdener Weg 8, 24211, Rastorf, Rosenfeld, Germany

    Ruth Böttger-Schnack

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  1. Frano Kršinić
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Kršinić, F., Böttger-Schnack, R. & Vidjak, O. Small copepods of the deep South Adriatic Pit: diversity, seasonal and multi-annual dynamics, and implications from the regional hydrography. Environ Monit Assess 192, 545 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-020-08462-4

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