Holoplankton and meroplankton of three western Atlantic sedimentary basins

ABSTRACT

Holoplankton and meroplankton were investigated in three different basins of the Brazilian Equatorial Margin, from January to May of 2015. The copepods Clausocalanus furcatus, Undinula vulgaris, Nannocalanus minor, Scolecithrix danae, and the larvacean Oikopleura longicauda were the most abundant and frequent organisms. Simultaneously, decapod and mollusk larvae, and larval fish, were the most abundant meroplankton. The decapod Anapagurus chiroacanthus was recorded in the western Atlantic for the first time. The highest richness and diversity occurred in the Foz do Amazonas Basin, while the Pará-Maranhão Basin had the highest abundance, associated with high levels of total organic carbon. There was a clear separation among the three basins in the occurrence of some species. Our study revealed significant variability in the holo- and meroplankton communities of the region. The significant differences in suspended solids explained the holo- and meroplankton distribution among basins, mainly in the sampling stations of the Foz do Amazonas Basin, which is related to the influence of the Amazon River plume in this region.

KEYWORDS:

• Zooplankton
• larval fish
• community structures
• biodiversity inventory
• species richness
• deepwater basins

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank PIR2 Consultoria Ambiental, the companies Bravante, Total E&P do Brasil Ltda., BP Energy do Brasil Ltda., Queiroz Galvão Exploração e Produção SA, Premier Oil do Brasil Petróleo e Gás Ltda., Chevron Brasil Upstream Frade Ltda. and IBAMA - Brazilian Environmental Agency for the data provided which support this work. We thank the team at the Zooplankton and Ichthyoplankton Integrated Laboratory of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro for sorting the samples. We also thank the following researchers for their help with identifications: Barbara Carvalho and Marta Quintas.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).