The relationship between zooplankton distribution and hydrography in oceanic waters of the Southern Gulf of Mexico

Zooplankton summer composition in the southern Gulf of Mexico with emphasis on salp and hyperiid amphipod assemblages

“…Most studies have indicated an overall increase in biomass during summer (Wormuth et al, 2000;Zavala-García et al, 2016;Färber Lorda et al, 2019), which is consistent with the observed pattern of a higher total zooplankton abundance during the late summer 2015 cruise, compared with the early summer cruise in 2016. The discharge of nutrient-rich waters from major rivers onto the continental shelf of the southern GOM that occurs during the rainy season (June-October), as well as seasonal coastal-offshore transport strongly influences the zooplankton abundance and distribution resulting in an enhanced zooplankton biomass (Okolodkov, 2003;de la Luz Espinosa-Fuentes et al, 2009;Zavala-García et al, 2016;Färber Lorda et al, 2019). In their multi-annual study, Zavala-García et al (2016) described higher zooplankton biomass to be consistently observed during summer in a strong relationship to the intensification of continental water discharged into the ocean between July and December at the southern BC, which we also observed at southern BC during August-September 2015.…”

“…Similarly, in the southern BC region Färber-Lorda et al . (2019) reported higher zooplankton biomass in the summer of 2011 (research cruise XIXIMI–2), driven by extensive blooms of salps, in clear association with heavy precipitation during that season. In this study, conditions promoting higher plankton stocks (i.e.…”

“…High productivity in the deep sector of the GOM is similarly related to the semi-permanent cyclonic eddy confined to the south-west of the Bay of Campeche (BC), and to the confluence of seasonal along-coast currents that induces offshore cross-shelf transport of chlorophyll-rich waters (Martínez-López & Zavala-Hidalgo, 2009). Overall, the high variability in appearance and persistence of mesoscale features in the GOM, as well as the periodic occurrence of freshwater runoff from major rivers, may result in locally enriched patches of enhanced algal productivity and zooplankton biomass (Wormuth et al ., 2000; Biggs & Ressler, 2001; Okolodkov, 2003; Callejas-Jimenez et al ., 2012; Müller-Karger et al ., 2015; Rowe, 2017; Wells et al ., 2017; Färber Lorda et al ., 2019).…”

“…The zooplankton assemblage of the deep basins of the GOM is dominated in both abundance and biomass by calanoid copepods followed by euphausiids and chaetognaths (Hopkins, 1982; Suárez-Morales et al ., 2009; Rowe, 2017). However, some low-abundance taxa, such as cnidarians and pelagic tunicates, bloom under favourable conditions and may occasionally dominate the zooplankton (Esnal, 1979; Suarez-Morales et al ., 2002; Flores-Coto et al ., 2010; Sanvicente-Añorve et al ., 2013; Martell-Hernández et al ., 2014; Färber Lorda et al ., 2019). These blooms are frequently associated with the occurrence of other diverse taxa (Schabetsberger et al ., 2003; Gasca et al ., 2009).…”

Reef-associated fishes from the offshore reefs of western Campeche Bank, Mexico, with a discussion of mangroves and seagrass beds as nursery habitats

“…Only a few of these are offshore reefs on the broad, shallow Campeche Bank that extends 200+ km north from the Yucatán Peninsula. This part of the Gulf of Mexico has a different marine environment from the rest of that gulf (Belanger et al 2012, Lorda et al 2019. Due in part to the number of endemic reef-fishes found there, the shore-fish fauna of this area forms a discrete biogeographic subunit within one of three major biogeographic subdivisions of the shore-fish fauna of the Greater Caribbean (Robertson and Cramer 2014).…”