Interannual variability in a copepod time-series in the spawning and nursery area of the patagonian hake. Implications for fish recruitment

VIÑAS, M. D.; CEPEDA, G. C.; TEMPERONI, B; MARRARI, M.; SANTOS, B. A.; MARTOS, P

BERGEN

Simposio; 6th Zooplankton Production Symposium; 2016

)Due to their dominance in the zooplankton community and their relationship with highertrophic levels in pelagic foodwebs, copepods are key components of marine ecosystems.Their spatial and temporal variability influence the survival of early stages of fish larvaethat rely on them as their main prey. This work aims to explore how environmentalvariability may influence the copepod community , as one of the possible factors affectinghake recruitment success. Research focused on the main spawning and nursery area ofthe patagonian population of Argentine hake. The data set includes 10 years ofzooplankton samples, sea surface temperature and chlorophyll concentration, as well asdata on the abundance of year-1 hake juveniles, as an indicator of recruitment of thespecies. Copepod community was analysed by means of ZooImage automated method.Small copepods, mainly represented by Drepanopus forcipatus and Ctenocalanus vanus,were overwhelmingly abundant during the study period. Calanoides carinatus dominatedthe large category. First results concerning interannual variability of abundance, biomassand size structure of the copepod community in relationship with sea surface temperature,satellite chlorophyll and hake recruitment index are presented.