Vertically stratified day and night samples were collected from a depth of up to 1000 m during four seasons at a single station in the western subarctic Pacific. Subsequently, the abundance, biovolume, community structure and population structure of the pelagic amphipods were evaluated from the imaging analysis using ZooScan. The stable isotope ratio (δ15N) was also measured for each species. In total 10 amphipod species were identified in total, and their community structures were separated into four groups. The four communities were characterized by the upper-layer community dominated by Themisto pacifica, and the deep-water community that was characterized by the absence of T. pacifica. The other two groups were observed for the intermediate depths at night only, which was characterized by the low abundance of T. pacifica performing diel vertical migration from those depths. The deep-dwelling species displayed higher δ15N and positive relationships were detected with the habitat depth of each species. For the predominant T. pacifica, population structure (cohort) analysis was possible based on equivalent spherical diameter data from ZooScan. This study demonstrates that imaging analysis by ZooScan is applicable for analyses of minor taxonomic groups (amphipods) in zooplankton communities.
Aetideid copepods dominate the mesopelagic layer of the Arctic Ocean and play an important role in the vertical material flux and biodiversity. However, little information about the lengths and weights of their copepodids is available. In this study, we collected five sympatric aetideid copepods, Chiridius obtusifrons Sars G.O., 1902, Gaetanus tenuispinus (Sars G.O., 1900), Gaetanus brevispinus (Sars G.O., 1900), Aetideopsis multiserrata (Wolfenden, 1904), and Aetideopsis rostrata Sars G.O., 1903, from the Arctic Ocean and examined their body lengths, dry and ash-free dry weights, and developmental growths at each copepodid stage. Highly significant length-weight relationships were obtained among copepodids for all species. Within genera, individuals of the same length were heavier at shallower depths. This may result from the greater nutritional availability to species within genera inhabiting shallower depths. Common to all species, the organic content (ash-free dry weight per dry weight) was high for the early copepodid stages. This may be due to the residual organic content of lipid-rich eggs retained in the non-feeding nauplii. The largest growth in females occurred at C5/C6, whereas the largest growth in males occurred at C4/C5, as determined by moult increment and proportion of growth in weight. These sex differences in weight growth could be due to the degeneration of the feeding appendage and cessation of feeding in C6 males of aetideid copepods.
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