Temporal and vertical distribution of two ecologically different calanoid copepods (Calanoides carinatus Krøyer 1849 and Lucicutia grandis Giesbrecht 1895) in the deep waters of the central Arabian Sea

Abstract

The full-depth vertical distributions of males, females and juveniles of Lucicutia grandis and Calanoides carinatus are presented from the surface down to depths of 3,900 m in the central Arabian Sea at the end of the NE monsoon and the February and October inter-monsoonal periods. L. grandis is a steady component and C. carinatus is a temporal resident of the central Arabian Sea oxygen minimum zone. Maximum abundances of C. carinatus and L. grandis juveniles were found at depths around 600 m, whereas the center of the distribution of L. grandis adults was somewhat deeper at 950 m. Both copepods are indicator species which can help to understand the functioning of the mesopelagic Arabian Sea ecosystem.