Resumen del producto

Mesoscale features within the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) are known to influence zooplanktondynamics. Here we describe the composition of the zooplankton assemblage off shelf duringsummer in relation to environmental conditions, with emphasis on hyperiid amphipods andsalps. Zooplankton samples were collected in summer of 2015 and 2016 in the central andsouthern GOM and in the Yucatan Channel in 2015. Two anticyclonic gyres were presentin the north and less intense coupled cyclonic-anticyclonic gyres in the south. Zooplanktonabundances differed temporally and spatially. Copepods were the dominant group (>55%of total abundance), while several less abundant taxa contributed to inter-annual and spatialdifferences. Amphipods and salps comprised <3% and their abundances were positively correlated.Fifty-six hyperiid and 10 salp species were identified. The dominant amphipod specieswere: Lestrigonus bengalensis (summer 2015), Anchylomera blossevillei and Primno spp.juveniles (summer 2016). Dominant salp species were Ihlea punctata, Iasis cylindrica andThalia spp. Lower salp and amphipod species richness and abundance were associated withanticyclonic structures. Spatial and temporal differences were partly associated with symbioticrelationships between the groups. This study supports previous evidence of high spatial andtemporal variability in zooplankton abundance in off-shelf waters of the GOM.

Palabras clave: Epipelagic crustaceans; Gulf of Mexico; mesoscale circulation; mesozooplankton; pelagic tunicates

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