Mesozooplankton Dynamics in Relation to Environmental Factors and Juvenile Fish in a Subtropical Estuary of the Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

ABSTRACT Liu, H.; Zhang, X.; Yang, Q.; Zuo, T., and Quigg, A., 2017. Mesozooplankton dynamics in relation to environmental factors and juvenile fish in a subtropical estuary of the Gulf of Mexico. Estuaries are physically dynamic and biologically productive but are also vulnerable to human activities and natural stressors. Zooplankton are sensitive to environmental changes and play a pivotal role in the transfer of the energy from primary producers to fish in marine ecosystems. Focusing on a subtropical estuary of Galveston Bay (Texas) in the northern Gulf of Mexico, the seasonal variations of species composition, abundance, and diversity of mesozooplankton in relation to environmental factors were examined, and the trophic interactions between zooplankton and juvenile fish were explored for the period of 2008 and 2009. The results showed that copepod nauplii, Acartia tonsa, Paracalanus spp., and Oithona spp. were the numerically dominant taxa in the bay. Zooplankton abundance was significantly and positi...