A warm anomaly in the upper ocean, colloquially named “the Blob,” appeared in the Gulf of Alaska during the calm winter of 2013–2014, spread across the northern North Pacific (NP) Ocean, and shifted eastward and onto the Oregon shelf. At least 14 species of copepods occurred which had never been observed in shelf/slope waters off Oregon, some of which are known to have NP Gyre affinities, indicating that the source waters of the coastal “Blob” were likely of both offshore (from the west) and subtropical/tropical origin. The anomalously warm conditions were reduced during strong upwelling in spring 2015 but returned when upwelling weakened in July 2015 and transitioned to downwelling in fall 2015. The extended period of warm conditions resulted in prolonged effects on the ecosystem off central Oregon, lasting at least through 2016. Impacts to the lower trophic levels were unprecedented and include a novel plankton community composition resulting from increased copepod, diatom, and dinoflagellate species richness and increased abundance of dinoflagellates. Additionally, the multiyear warm anomalies were associated with reduced biomass of copepods and euphausiids, high abundance of larvaceans and doliolids (indictors of oligotrophic ocean conditions), and a toxic diatom bloom (Pseudo‐nitzschia) throughout the California Current in 2015, thereby changing the composition of the food web that is relied upon by many commercially and ecologically important species.

Novel midwater ocean sampling shows that physiology dictates zooplankton distributions in submesoscale low oxygen features.

The Palmer Long Term Ecological Research study region west of the Antarctic Peninsula is experiencing warming and changing seasonal sea ice dynamics. Abundance patterns of 3 species of pelagic secondary producers were analyzed for trends, cycles, range extensions or shifts in the location of highest density, and for changes in population dynamics over a 16 yr period (1993−2008). Species analyzed represented different hydrographic regimes and are known to have contrasting responses to seasonal sea ice dynamics: krill Euphausia superba, seasonal sea ice zone; tunicates Salpa thompsoni, warmer waters with minimal sea ice; and larval Antarctic silverfish Pleuragramma antarcticum, cold continental shelf waters. Cycles were observed in grid-wide abundance and recruitment for E. superba. Maximum grid-wide densities did not decrease, but the location of highest densities shifted southward 200 km, away from Adélie penguin rookeries at the northern end. A distinct change post-1999 was apparent in the frequency of occurrence and abundance of S. thompsoni. Mixtures of krill and salps became common, but neither peak densities nor the frequency of peak years for salps increased. As with Antarctic krill, highest salp densities shifted southward alongshore. Larval P. antarcticum were abundant in the northern coastal region in the early 1990s, but virtually disappeared in that region after 1999/2000. Possible mechanisms underlying these observations include the southerly movement of the sea ice edge during spring, changes in proximity of source populations (salps), and changes in transport pathways (larval P. antarcticum). Patterns are compared to those in the SW Atlantic.

The critical oxygen partial pressure (Pcrit), typically defined as that below which an animal's metabolic rate (MR) is unsustainable, is widely interpreted as a measure of hypoxia tolerance. Here, Pcrit is defined as the PO2 at which physiological oxygen supply (α0) reaches its maximum capacity (α; µmol O2 g−1h−1kPa−1). The α is a species- and temperature-specific constant describing the oxygen dependency of the maximum metabolic rate (MMR= PO2*α) or, equivalently, the metabolic rate-dependence of Pcrit (Pcrit=MR/α). We describe the α-method, in which the MR is monitored as oxygen declines and, for each measurement period, is divided by the corresponding PO2 to provide the concurrent oxygen supply (α0=MR/PO2). The highest α0 value (or, more conservatively, the mean of the three highest values) is designated as α. The same value of α is reached at Pcrit for any MR regardless of previous or subsequent metabolic activity. The metabolic rate needn't be constant (regulated), standardized, nor exhibit a clear-breakpoint at Pcrit for accurate determination of α. The α-method has several advantages over Pcrit determination and non-linear analyses, including: 1) less ambiguity and greater accuracy, 2) fewer constraints in respirometry methodology and analysis, and 3) greater predictive power and ecological and physiological insight. Across the species evaluated here, α values are correlated with MR, but not Pcrit. Rather than an index of hypoxia tolerance, Pcrit is a reflection of α, which evolves to support maximum energy demands and aerobic scope at the prevailing temperature and oxygen level.

All parasitoid apostome ciliates infecting krill in the northeastern Pacific are currently assigned to the genus Pseudocollinia. Each krill specimen is apparently infected by only 1 Pseudocollinia species. We describe Pseudocollinia similis sp. nov., discovered infecting the krill Thysanoessa spinifera off Oregon, USA. Its protomite-tomite stage resembles that of P. beringensis, which infects T. inermis (type host species), T. longipes, and T. raschii females in the Bering Sea. These ciliates have similar numbers of somatic kineties (18-21 vs. 16-20) and typically have 3 oral kineties. Furthermore, these 2 apostomes are sister species on gene trees based on sequences of small subunit rRNA (0.06% difference) and cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1; 30% difference). P. brintoni and P. oregonensis are closely related as a separate group from P. similis and P. beringensis. The similar tree topologies based on the cox1 sequences of 21 host krill individuals representing 6 krill species (Euphausia pacifica, Nyctiphanes simplex, T. inermis, T. longipes, T. raschii, and T. spinifera) and the apostomes isolated from these krill suggest host-parasitoid codiversification. However, this hypothesis was statistically rejected by an approximately unbiased test in which the host tree topology was used to model parasitoid evolution (p ≤ 0.05).

Gravid adult female Euphausia pacifica were collected off Newport, Oregon, USA and transferred to the laboratory, where females spawned eggs, eggs hatched, and larvae were reared at 10.5°C. We fed 4 cohorts of larvae to excess with a combination of phytoplankton species and monitored them daily until they reached the juvenile stage. The euphausiids were maintained separately (1 individual per jar) from the third furcilia (FIII) to the juvenile stage to observe developmental pathways. Individual cohorts developed at nearly the same rate until the first furcilia stage, after which 2 cohorts began to develop significantly faster than the others. Median time to the juvenile stage ranged from 51.9 to 60.6 d, with significant differences among cohorts. The first calyptopis stage and the third furcilia stage lasted longer than any other stages and appear to be bottlenecks in the development of this species. Individual development from FIII to juvenile varied widely both within and among cohorts. We observed 4 main developmental pathways. Over half of the euphausiids skipped 1 development stage between FIII and juvenile (58%), and none skipped multiple stages. There was no tendency for individuals from the same cohort to follow the same developmental pathway. This variability in development may be even higher in the field and could impact mortality calculations and cohort analysis from field samples. KEY WORDS: Euphausia pacifica · Larval development time · Developmental pathwaysResale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher

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