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

VIÑAS, M. D.; MARRARI, M.; CEPEDA, G. C.; SANTOS, B. A.; TEMPERONI, B; 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 larvae that rely on them as their main prey. Argentine hake (Merluccius hubbsi) is one of the most abundant fish resources in the Argentine Sea. The Patagonian stock (41-55ºS) is the most important commercially, including ~85% of the total biomass and a spawning biomass of around 400,000 t. This stock spawns and nurses in the northern Patagonian shelf, during austral summer with a peak in January. After spawning hake larvae prey mainly upon calanoid copepods. This work aims to explore how environmental variability may influence the copepod community in the main spawning and nursery area, as one of the possible factors affecting hake recruitment success.