Author index of volume 181

Abstract

From 1983 to 1987, 118 species representing 53 genera from the Calanoida, Cladocera, Cyclopoida, Rotifera, and Harpacticoida comprised the offshore zooplankton community of Lake Erie. Twenty-eight common species plus their juvenile stages accounted for 94.4% of the total biomass and 92.5% of the total abundance. The eutrophic indicators Brachionus caudatus, B. calyciflorus, B. angularis, Filinia longiseta, Trichocerca multicrinis, and Trichocerca cylindrica had abundances restricted to or significantly higher in the western basin. Between 1983 and 1987, essentially smaller species (Daphnia galeata mendotae, Daphnia retrocurva, Eubosmina coregoni, Bosmina longirostris, and Diaphanosoma leuchtenbergianum) were dominant as in 1948 and 1970. In 1984 a large cladoceran new to Lake Erie, Daphnia pulicaria (mean = 755 individuals/m3, maximum abundance of 3,752/m3), became prevalent. Another cladoceran, Bythotrephes cederstroemi, was first observed in Lake Erie in 1985 and continued to be present in 1986 and 1987. Cyclops vernalis, present throughout the lake in 1967, was observed only in the western basin during 1983 to 1987 similar to the distribution in the 1930s. Rotifer composition in 1967 and the 1983-87 period was similar. Cladocera abundance during the 1983-87 period was comparable to abundances observed in the’30s and’40s. Zooplankton abundance and biomass decreased from the western basin to the eastern basin except in 1985. This decrease correlated with the decrease in phytoplankton biomass (r = 0.81).