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Research Publications: UM-SG-RS-2013-17
Title:
Deployment of an imaging system to investigate fine-scale spatial distribution of early life stages of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi in Chesapeake Bay.Year:
2013Authors:
Bi, H; Cook, S; Yu, H; Benfield, MC; Houde, EDSource:
Journal of Plankton Research 35 ( 2 ) : 270 - 280DOI:
10.1093/plankt/fbs094Abstract:
A high-resolution digital imaging system, the zooplankton visualization and imaging system (ZOOVIS) was deployed in the mid-region of Chesapeake Bay to investigate the fine-scale distribution of small individuals of the lobate ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi. Counts of individuals, mostly 5 mm, were enumerated from each frame of ZOOVIS and merged with data from a conductivity-temperature-depth to provide corresponding values of depth, temperature and salinity. Mnemiopsis leidyi rarely occurred below the pycnocline depth but commonly occurred in the upper water column. Where the water column was strongly stratified, M. leidyi tended to be more common near the pycnocline, but it was more abundant near the bottom at locations where the water column was well mixed. Horizontally, M. leidyi was more abundant on the shoulders of the middle Bay than in the deeper main channel. In this survey, M. leidyi occurred more frequently in relatively warm and low salinity water. Furthermore, small M. leidyi were patchily distributed and the patch size was 700 m in horizontal extent. A zero-inflated, general additive model successfully simulated the spatial distribution of M. leidyi, with temperature and salinity as predictors. The ZOOVIS system proved to be a valuable tool to study fine-scale distributions of small and delicate gelatinous zooplankton, even in the relatively turbid conditions that prevailed in this estuarine system.Maryland Sea Grant Topic(s):
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Featured Fellow
Leone Yisrael is a cephalopod-loving scuba diver, cook, and loves to try new activities. She conducts genetic analysis and fieldwork at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center through the Coastal Disease Ecology Lab.
Featured Research Project
Developing a habitat model for mysids, an important link in Chesapeake Bay food webs
Mysids are important mesozooplankton prey for many species of fish in Chesapeake Bay and are an important link in transferring energy from lower to upper trophic levels. Mysids also serve as biological vectors for benthic-pelagic coupling due to their diel vertical migration and omnivorous prey-switching behavior, which makes mysids important regulators of food web architecture. Despite their central role in coastal food webs, surprisingly little is known about mysid ecology and dynamics in Chesapeake Bay.
