Open AccessEpipelagic euphausiids assemblage in the Gerlache Strait (Antarctic Peninsula) during January 2015
Author(s) -
Marisol Rivera-Gómez,
Alan Giraldo,
Diego Fernando Mojica Moncada
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
boletin de investigaciones marinas y costeras/boletín de investigaciones marinas y costeras
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2590-4671
pISSN - 0122-9761
DOI - 10.25268/bimc.invemar.2021.50.suplesp.972
Subject(s) - euphausia , euphausiacea , oceanography , antarctic krill , krill , bay , pelagic zone , zooplankton , peninsula , geography , geology , archaeology
The spatial distribution of the epipelagic Euphausiids was investigated during the first Colombian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica “Expedición Caldas” in the Gerlache Strait during the austral summer of 2015. Surface zooplankton was collected at 20 oceanographic stations with a simple conical net of 0.6 m in diameter mouth and 200 µm of mesh net. Four euphausiid species were collected in 70 % of the sampling stations: Euphausia crystallorophias Holt and Tattersall 1906, Euphausia superba Dana 1850, Thysanoessa sp. and Thysanoessa macrura Sars 1883. Euphausia crystallorophias was the most abundant species with maximum density of 818 ind 1000 m-3 associated with the entrance of the Wilhelmina Bay, in the central area of the Gerlache Strait. The northern and southern sectors of the strait had significant differences in surface temperature and salinity associated with significant differences in the composition of the euphausiid species assemblages between both sectors. Although E. crystallorophias was the numerically dominant euphausiid species in the GerlacheStrait, E. superba was mostly distributed in the northern sector while Thysanoessa sp. was only distributed in the southern sector.