Abstract
Life history, habitat utilisation, and biomass of benthic and pelagic opossum shrimp ( Mysis relicta) were studied in the oligotrophic Lake Jonsvatn, central Norway. Sampling in the pelagic zone was done by means of a closing zooplankton net; in the benthic zone by means of a benthic beam trawl. M. relicta had a mixed one or two year life cycle. In the autumn, the proportion of mature females and males were larger in the pelagic than in the benthic habitat. Copulation took place in late autumn, and the first females with eggs occurred in November. In February, the first juvenile M. relicta were released in the benthic habitat. In May and July, however, juveniles were found in large numbers in all parts of the lake. The length distribution of M. relicta indicates that juveniles partly segregate between benthic and pelagic habitats. Both juvenile and adult M. relicta performed vertical diel migrations in the pelagic habitat. In the benthic habitat, diel vertical migrations along the bottom were not as pronounced as vertical migrations in the pelagic habitat. In the benthic habitat, major migrations were performed only by adults in the autumn. Our results indicate that the light intensity in the green part of the spectrum gives the proximate cue for regulation of vertical distribution of M. relicta. The mean total biomass varied between 288 and 1576 kg dry weight, corresponding to 23.2–127.1 mg dry weight m −2 surface area. M. relicta had smallest biomass during late spring/early summer and largest biomass during autumn and early winter. Estimated pelagic biomasses were largest in February, August, October and November, while benthic biomasses were largest in May and July. Estimated biomass of pelagic M. relicta during autumn was approximately 1/10 of the estimated biomass of zooplankton in this lake.
Published Version
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