Deep-Sea Sampling on CMarZ Cruises in the Atlantic Ocean – an Introduction

Authors

Peter Wiebe, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Ann Bucklin, University of Connecticut
Laurence P. Madin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Martin V. Angel, National Oceanography Centre - United KingdomFollow
Tracey Sutton, Virginia Institute of Marine ScienceFollow
Francescn Pages, Institut de Ciencies del Mar - Barcelona, Spain
Russell R. Hopcroft, University of Alaska - Fairbanks
Dhugal Lindsay, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology

ORCID

0000-0002-5280-7071

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography

ISSN

0967-0645

Publication Date

12-2010

Keywords

Zooplankton, Fish, Mesopelagic, Bathypelagic, DNA barcode, Diversity, Atlantic Ocean, Sargasso Sea

Abstract

The deep-sea zooplankton assemblage is hypothesized to have high species diversity, with low abundances of each species. However, even rare species may have huge population sizes and play a critical role in the dynamics of deep-sea environments. The Census of Marine Zooplankton (CMarZ) study sought to accurately assess zooplankton diversity in the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones of the subtropical/tropical of the northwest and eastern sections of the Atlantic Ocean using integrated morphological and molecular analysis of large-volume samples to depths of 5,000 m. The field surveys in April 2006 and November 2007 included scientists and students associated with the CMarZ. The cruise field work entailed at-sea analysis of samples and identification of specimens by expert taxonomists, with at-sea DNA sequencing to determine a barcode (i.e., a short DNA sequence for species recognition) for selected species. Environmental data and zooplankton samples were collected with 1-m² and 10-m²opening/closing MOCNESS (0–1000 m and 1000–5000 m, respectively), and with either a 0.25-m²MOCNESS or a 0.5-m² Multi-net above 1000 m. More than 500 species were identified and more than 1000 specimens placed in a queue for barcoding on each cruise; several hundred species were barcoded at sea. For several taxonomic groups, a significant fraction of the region’s known species were collected and identified. For example, in the northwest Atlantic 93 of 140 known ostracod species for the Atlantic Ocean were collected, 6 undescribed species were found, and the first DNA barcode for a planktonic ostracod was obtained. The deployment of trawls with fine-mesh nets to sample large volumes at great depths for small zooplankton confirmed that there is considerable species diversity at depth, with more species yet to be discovered.

DOI

10.1016/j.dsr2.2010.09.018

Volume

57

Issue

24-26

First Page

2157

Last Page

2166

Comments

©2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Additional Comments

NOAA Ocean Exploration Program grant #: NA06OAR4600091

NSUWorks Citation

Peter Wiebe, Ann Bucklin, Laurence P. Madin, Martin V. Angel, Tracey Sutton, Francescn Pages, Russell R. Hopcroft, and Dhugal Lindsay. 2010. Deep-Sea Sampling on CMarZ Cruises in the Atlantic Ocean – an Introduction .Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography , (24-26) : 2157 -2166. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/513.