Vertical distribution and population structure of Calanus finmarchicus at station India (59°N, 19°W) during the passage of the great salinity anomaly, 1971–1975

Abstract

Abundance, vertical distribution and stage composition of Calanus finmarchicus was analysed for a period of four and half years, 1971–1975, based on data collected at weather station India in the North Atlantic (59°N, 19°W). The passage of the Great Salinity Anomaly in the area was reflected by a decrease in the salinity from 1973 to 1975. Calanus finmarchicus arrives at the surface by the end of March and stays in the upper 50 m, but with a stage segregation in the vertical distribution, until the descent periods at the end of May–June and in August–September. During this period two or three cohorts develop, apparently in close relation with the phytoplankton pulses. Abundance is highly variable, with maximum values ranging from 8770 ind m −2 in 1974 to 56,541 ind m −2 in 1973. There was no clear effect of the Great Salinity Anomaly, the maximum abundance occurring the year the Great Salinity Anomaly arrived, 1973, and the minimum values occurring the next year, 1974, when the effect of the Great Salinity Anomaly was well established. However, the structure of the population seems to have been affected during the Great Salinity Anomaly. Possible interactions between phytoplankton blooms, the Great Salinity Anomaly and C. finmarchicus population dynamics are discussed.