Premium
The Internal Distribution Patterns of a Calanoid Copepod Population, and a Description of a Modified Clarke‐Bumpus Plankton Sampler
Author(s) -
COMITA GABRIEL W.,
COMITA JEAN J.
Publication year - 1957
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.1002/lno.1957.2.4.0321
Subject(s) - copepod , plankton , biology , population , dispersion (optics) , zooplankton , zoology , crustacean , ecology , physics , demography , sociology , optics
The internal distribution patterns of all the developmental stages of a Diaptomus siciloides population were studied by taking a large number of small samples of the same size. Use was made of a modified Clark‐Bumpus plankton sampler constructed so that the volume of water filtered could be pre‐set, and the behavior of this sampler was studied using a number 20 net. The data for the distribution patterns were obtained from fifty‐one samples of 56.8 liters each, collected over a period of forty‐five minutes. From these samples Fisher’s coefficient of dispersion ( S 2 /X̄), was computed and used as a measure of dispersion. With the exception of nauplius II it was found that all the immature stages and the adult males and females were infradispersed at the lower five‐per cent level of significance. Nauplius II was randomly dispersed, and the eggs were found to be superdispersed. When the stages were lumped to form categories such as total nauplii or total copepodids, randomness or superdispersion was found. The dependence of S 2 /X̄ on sample size, number of samples, and population density was examined.