Vertical distribution of mesozooplankton and its δ15N signature at a deep‐sea site in the Levantine Sea (eastern Mediterranean) in April 1999

Abstract

Mesozooplankton samples were collected throughout the water column in the 4270 m deep Ierapetra basin, 30 nm SE off Crete, in April 1999. Information on trophic relationships within mesozooplankton size classes (<0.5, 0.5–1, 1–2, and 2–5 mm) and the sources of diet were obtained by measuring the composition of stable nitrogen isotopes of size‐fractionated zooplankton and particles collected by sediment traps. Compared to data from the Arabian Sea, the δ15N values of zooplankton were markedly lower in the Levantine Sea. Data from the upper 250 m (2–3‰) suggest that N2 from the atmosphere was used by diazotroph cyanophycea as a nitrogen source for primary production. A loop system is hypothesized by which isotopically light NH4+ is recycled and used by phytoplankton. In the deep mesopelagic zone, an increase in δ15N with increasing depth was observed. In the deep bathypelagic zone, the δ15N values were more or less stable and indicate a trophic level of ∼2.5. A first zooplankton analysis revealed that juveniles of the calanoid copepod Lucicutia longiserrata, one of the rare true deep‐sea species in the Levantine basin, were predominant in this zone. The taxonomic composition as well as the vertical distribution of zooplankton in the large habitat zones resembled that in January 1987, before the onset of a hydrological shift in the eastern Mediterranean. We therefore suggest that the situation in April 1999 does not characterize the mode of nitrogen transfer during the EMT.