Zooplankton and Vertical

Distribution and Migration

 Zooplankton
• The animals making up the zooplankton are taxonomically and structurally diverse.
• They range in size from microscopic, unicellular organisms to jellyfish several meters in
diameter
• Although all zooplankton are capable of movement, by definition none are capable of
making their way against a current.
• Zooplankton — indeed all animals and some micro-organisms — are heterotrophic.
• Animal species differ in how their energy is obtained:
o some species are herbivores which consume plants;
o others are carnivores which are capable of eating only other animals;
o and some species are predominantly detritivores which consume dead organic material.
o Many animals, however, are omnivores with mixed diets of plant and animal material.
• Different types of zooplankton often are placed in categories which describe their diets.
• In addition to size categories and positions
in food chains, zooplankton can be
subdivided into classifications based on
habitat (oceanic vs. neritic species);
• They also form two categories depending
upon the length of residency in the pelagic
environment;
o holoplankton (or permanent plankton)
spend their entire life cycles in the water
column,
o whereas meroplankton are temporary
residents of the plankton community. The
meroplankton includes fish eggs and fish
larvae (the adults are nektonic), as well as
the swimming larval stages of many
benthic invertebrates such as clams, snails,
barnacles, and starfish.
 Vertical Distribution
• Zooplankton are grouped according to their depth position in water column.
✔ Pleuston: Species that live permanently at the sea surface and whose bodies project partly into the air are
called pleuston. They are sometimes considered to form a special category because they are passively
transported by wind instead of by currents.
✔ Neuston: The neuston includes those species that inhabit the uppermost few to tens of millimetres of the
surface water.
• Ecologically, it is difficult to separate these categories, and here they are discussed together as organisms
living in the uppermost zone of the ocean. This community is richly developed in tropical waters, and most of
the following examples are typically warm water species
• Examples of pleustonic species include the colonial cnidarians Physalia and Velella. And their relatives, all of
which have gas-filled floats that project above the water surface. The long trailing tentacles of Physalia enable
it to capture zooplankton and small fish well below the sea surface.
• Some of the neuston, especially crab and fish larvae, are highly transparent and therefore difficult to discern
by sight
✔ Epipelagic: In all areas, the region immediately below the sea surface and extending to
200 or 300m is referred to as the epipelagic zone.
• Many zooplankton are permanent residents of this zone, others migrate into this region at
night. Only the zooplankton that live in depths shallower than 300m during the daytime
are regarded as truly epipelagic. Many herbivores and omnivores inhabit this region; these
include smaller crustaceans (such as copepods), the thecosomatous pteropods, salps,
larvaceans, and meroplanktonic larvae. Many of the species are relatively small, and
many are transparent.
✔ Mesopelagic: The mesopelagic zone lies between the bottom of the epipelagic region and a depth of
approximately 1000 m, and the animals that live here in the daytime are called mesopelagic species.
Many mesopelagic zooplankton tend to be larger than their epipelagic relatives.
• In this deep non turbulent water, even the delicate-bodied, transparent, gelatinous zooplankton become
more diverse and increase in size.
• Many of the residents, however, are carnivores or detritus feeders, feeding on larger particles.
Example: Deep-sea larvacean (Bathochordaeus).
• Many mesopelagic animals have developed red or black coloration. For example, all pelagic shrimp
living below 500-700 m by day are uniformly bright red, whereas those living in shallower depths are
transparent or semi-transparent.
• Many mesopelagic zooplankton (and fish) also have larger eyes and increased sensitivity to blue-green
wavelengths of light; these are the deepest penetrating wavelengths of solar radiation and also the
spectrum of most bioluminescent * light.
✔ Bathypelagic and abyssopelagic: bathypelagic species that inhabit the dark water layers
from 1000 to 3000 or 4000 m, and in some of the abyssopelagic species living below
these depths.
• Bioluminescence also occurs in some of the bathypelagic species.
• In these zones, many of the zooplankton and fish tend to be deep red or black in colour
and many have smaller eyes than the mesopelagic species.
• Bioluminescent
• Bioluminescence refers to light produced and emitted by organisms themselves, and it is known
in marine species of bacteria, dinoflagellates, many invertebrates (both pelagic and benthic), and
some fish. Bioluminescence becomes increasingly important in the deep sea where it is the only
source of light below about 1000 m.
• In the midwater disphotic zone, more than 90% of the resident species of crustaceans, gelatinous
zooplankton, fish, and squid emit light.
• Bioluminescence may be used for various types of communication in the sea, but in many
species the behavioral or ecological role of the light signals remains unknown.
• In some planktonic species, bioluminescent displays result when the organisms are disturbed and
are therefore thought to be employed as a predator defense. When disturbed, some medusae,
siphonophores, ctenophores, ostracods, and deep-sea squid shed luminescing tentacles or
produce clouds of luminous material as apparent decoys for predators while the darkened animal
itself swims away.
DIEL VERTICAL MIGRATION
• One of the most characteristic behavioral features of plankton is a vertical migration that
occurs with a 24-hour periodicity.
• This has often been referred to as diurnal vertical migration.
• However, diurnal refers to events that occur during daytime; it is the opposite of
nocturnal.
• Diel refers to events that occur with a 24-hour rhythm.
• Diel vertical migration (or DVM) is usually marked by the upward migration of
organisms towards the surface at night, and a downward movement to deeper waters in
the daytime
• This phenomenon has been known since the time of the Challenger Expedition, but even
now we do not have entirely satisfactory explanations for the widespread occurrence and
ecological significance of this 24-hour rhythmical movement.
• Diel vertical migration occurs in at least some species of all the major groups of
zooplankton (freshwater species as well), and it is known in dinoflagellates and in many
nektonic species, including both cephalopods and fish. Diel vertical migration occurs in
many (but not all) epipelagic and mesopelagic species and, although few studies have
been done on deeper-living plankton, it is known in some bathypelagic shrimp.
• Because of diel vertical migrations, a comparison of day and night plankton tows taken in
the same area at the same depths will always show differences in species composition and
total biomass.
 • In general, there are three patterns diel vertical migration shown by migrating marine
zooplankton:
1. Nocturnal migration is characterized by a single daily ascent, usually beginning near
sunset, and a single descent from the upper layers which occurs near sunrise. This is the
most common pattern displayed by marine zooplankton.
2. Twilight migration is marked by two ascents and two descents every 24 hours. There is
a sunset rise to a minimum night-time depth, but during the night there is a descent
called the midnight sink. At sunrise, the animals again rise toward the surface, then later
descend to the daytime depth.
3. Reverse migration is the least common pattern. It is characterized by a surface rise
during the day and a night-time descent to a maximum depth
 • Diel vertical migration has several consequences that are biologically and ecologically
important.
✔ One is that, since all individuals of a species do not migrate at precisely the same time
and to the same depths, a population will eventually lose some individuals and gain
others.
✔ This mixture of individuals from different populations enhances genetic mixing and is
especially important in species of limited horizontal mobility.
✔ Another important result of vertical migration is that it increases and hastens the transfer
of organic materials produced in the euphotic zone to deeper areas of the sea. The
ladder-like series of migrating organisms plays an important role in marine food chains.
Each migrating animal removes food from shallower depths during the night; this
material is then actively transported to deeper areas in the daytime.
 SEASONAL VERTICAL MIORATIONS
In some species, vertical migration patterns change seasonally and may be
associated with breeding cycles and changing depth preferences of different stages
in the life cycle. In the North Pacific Ocean, the dominant copepods show dramatic
changes in their depth patterns. In inshore waters off the western coast of Canada,
Neocalanus plumchrus adults do not feed, and they overwinter at about 300-450 m
depth where the eggs are laid between December and April. The eggs float toward
the surface, and nauplii hatch and develop at intermediate depths. Nauplii are
present in near-surface waters from February to April, and the population matures to
the copepodite V stage during March to June when primary productivity is highest.
By early June, stage V individuals contain large amounts of lipids accumulated from
feeding on phytoplankton, and they begin to migrate to deeper waters where they
will subsist on this stored fat reserve. There they mature to the adult stage VI, mate,
and lay eggs during the winter. In offshore waters, the life cycle changes somewhat,
with spawning in deep water (>250 m) taking place from July to February and early
copepodite stages first appearing in the upper 100 m in October.