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Zooplankton of a bathyal benthic boundary layer: In situ rates of oxygen consumption and ammonium excretion 1
Author(s) -
Smith K. L.
Publication year - 1982
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 - 10.4319/lo.1982.27.3.0461
Subject(s) - bathyal zone , benthic zone , zooplankton , oceanography , biomass (ecology) , ammonium , water column , oxygen , plankton , biology , zoology , environmental chemistry , environmental science , ecology , chemistry , geology , organic chemistry
Oxygen consumption and ammonium excretion rates of bathyal macro‐ and megazooplankton from a benthic boundary layer were measured in situ. Collections of plankton were made using a four‐chambered slurp gun respirometer manipulated by the submersible Alvin in the Santa Catalina Basin off southern California at levels 1, 5, 10, and 50 in above bottom in a 1,300‐m water column. Abundance, biomass, oxygen consumption, and ammonium excretion of the mixed macrozooplankton decreased with increased elevation above the bottom. Two specimens of the scyphomedusa Poralia rufescens , a dominant megazooplankton species, were individually collected at 1‐ and 5‐m elevations. Oxygen consumption rates of P. rufescens are similar to those of shallow‐water gelatinous zooplankton. However, excretion rates for P. rufescens are significantly lower. Integrated mixed macrozooplankton oxygen consumption for the 50‐m benthic boundary layer is 1,575.5 µ l·m −2 d −1 , with the contribution from P. rufescens being only 91.6 This combined zooplankton respiration is only 3% of that measured for the sediment community in the Santa Catalina Basin.