Abstract
The northern Gulf of Mexico (nGOM) is a highly productive region and supports some of the world’s largest fisheries. Mesozooplankton represent a key linkage in coastal food webs for larval fish, both as food and as competition. While many studies have investigated seasonal patterns of mesozooplankton off the Louisiana coast and in the Mississippi Bight, there is little information about mesozooplankton communities on the Texas shelf. In this study, we investigated environmental drivers of mesozooplankton community variability over space and time. Samples were collected on the Texas shelf near Galveston Bay at seasonal intervals following Hurricane Harvey. Total mesozooplankton abundance were found to be highest in September. Diversity exhibited a hump-shaped pattern over the 6 months sampled, with the highest diversity occurring in October 2017. Taxa richness did not vary over the sampling period. Significant differences in mesozooplankton community structure were found only between September 2017 and March 2018. Community abundance was greatest nearshore, and zooplankton diversity was greatest on the shelf. Community structure was found to be driven by both temperature and salinity. Spatial and temporal patterns of specific larval fish prey are presented.
Highlights
The northern Gulf of Mexico is a highly productive region, referred to as the “fisheries fertile crescent” (Gunter, 1963)
We investigated changes in mesozooplankton community structure over 6 months in a previously understudied region of the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGOM)
September was characterized by significantly higher mesozooplankton abundances compared to other months (Figure 2A)
Summary
The northern Gulf of Mexico (nGOM) is a highly productive region, referred to as the “fisheries fertile crescent” (Gunter, 1963). Mesozooplankton production is tightly coupled with environmental conditions and can rapidly increase, or decrease, in response to changes in abiotic and biotic conditions such as salinity, temperature, and food availability. This in turn, alters the relative abundance, composition and overall diversity of the community (Quintana et al, 1998; Nielsen and Andersen, 2002; Leising et al, 2015; Cavole et al, 2016). The distribution of larval fish prey, such as chaetognaths, ostracods, or copepods, plays an important role in recruitment success
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