Resumen del producto

The abundance and community structure of mesozooplancton (333 µm) were studied in October and December 2003, February, June and August 2004 at a fixed station in order to analyze the changes of mesozooplankton community and copepods, as well as its relationship with the surface of the sea and the concentration of chlorophyll a and sea surface temperature. The mesozooplancton was separated into functional groups, standardizing the abundance to 1 m³ filtered water. In 50 zooplankton samples, a total of 20 systematic groups were identified. Maximum abundance was found in June (> 1500 org·m^-3) and minimum in February (260 org·m^-3); copepods, cladocerans and decapods were the most abundant and frequently-occurring taxa. Thrity-two species of copepods were identified; their abundance varied between 300 and 600 indiv·m^-3, species richness varied between 21 and 23. Centropages furcatus Canthocalanus pauper and Acartia lilljeborgii were the most frequent and abundant copepods. The highest diversity was estimated in February (3 bits·ind^-1) and lowest in June (2 bits·ind^-1), indicating a relatively stable community. Biogeographical affinity was predominantly tropical (? 80%); 25-40% of the species were herbivorous. The relationship between the copepod abundances and sea surface temperature was not significant. The proportion of herbivore copepods varied between 27 and 41% and was significantly correlated with the variation in chlorophyll a. The abundance of the copepods showed a maximum in the summer, seemingly due to high concentrations of chlorophyll a.

Palabras clave: Community structure; abundance; copepods

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