Transcript updates from SG members - Census of Marine Zooplankton

Ruben Escribano
Center for Oceanographic Research in the eastern South Pacific (COPAS)
Database: Pacific Regional Node of OBIS (ESPOBIS, www.ron.udec.cl) administrated by
COPAS; new data on zooplankton from the Humboldt Current region; new zooplankton
data from coastal and shelf break areas off Ecuador now available from OBIS.
Cruises: 2007 collections in the eastern South Pacific in the central/southern region off
Chile. Time series data and samples from 2002 up to date are available. Taxonomic
analysis of samples is an ongoing task and the list of species not previously reported for
the region is gradually increasing. Ruben participated in the Polarstern cruise in the
Atlantic region during October-November 2007; specific aim was to identify species from
a wide range of calanoid families to submit for barcoding .
Outreach activities
Our web sites reporting zooplankton data are increasingly getting attention from public.
The number of hits for the Spanish site was 12,264 and that of English (available from
October 2007) was 2,412
Presentations: During 2007 two oral presentations were made in Chilean national
congresses reporting our link with CmarZ and zooplankton data base.
Ruben Escribano (Continued)
Education and training
November 15-30, an international course on “automatic recognition of zooplankton using
digitalized images and ZooImage software” was carried out at our Marine Biology StationDichato with Dr. Phil Culverhouse from Plymouth University, UK. The course was
sponsored by our Austral Summer Institute VIII, University of Concepcion and COPAS
Center.
Work planned for 2008: Zooplankton surveys in northern Chile and in the
central/southern region. A spatial survey covering coastal and oceanic areas off
Concepcion (36° S), including deep sampling (>700 m) using a Tucker Trawl Net is
currently underways (05-20 March 2008) onboard the Chilean Navy Vessel Vidal Gormaz.
A new project funded by the Chilean Commission for Science and Technology for field
work, hiring students, training and acquisition of a ZooScan device for automatic counting
and recognition of zooplankton. Four seasonal zooplankton surveys will be supported
during 2008-2010. The project will also provide funding to support sampling and
taxonomic analysis, complemented with molecular tools (DNA barcoding), in collaboration
with CmarZ project.
We expect to establish the terms for training one of our students in DNA barcoding at
University of Connecticut during this year. The work will be focused on species from the
eastern South Pacific, which is a vast region poorly studied in terms of zooplankton.
Ahmet Kideys
Middle East (Eastern Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas) zooplankton studies
Activities until March 2008
In this subproject, regular sampling and analyses from both the southern Caspian and
southern Black Sea continued. Data were included in a database program (different
groups of plankton between 2002 and up to now). Additionally, extra samplings of
zooplankton during different cruises from the Sea of Marmara for copepod species were
undertaken during 2007. As a result, a few more publications were produced (where
CMarZ acknowledged).
 One interesting question was the fate of copepods when they are transported from the
Black Sea to the Marmara with the strong surface current.
 In October 2005 spatial distribution of live and dead Acartia clausi and A. tonsa was
studied in the Black and Marmara Seas and near the Marmara Sea inlet of the Bosphorus,
for this aim.
 Decreased abundance of A. clausi and A. tonsa from the Black Sea towards the
Marmara Sea, as well as observed mass mortality of A. clausi in the Marmara Sea near
the Prince Islands indicate that the Marmara Sea Acartia populations are forming upon
the recruitment from the Black Sea (Hubareva et al, 2007).
Future plans:
During 2008, sampling will continue at one regular station in the Black Sea and several
stations at irregular intervals in the Sea of Marmara.
Webjorn Melle (Institute of Marine Research, Norway) and Peter Wiebe (Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution)
G.O. Sars survey (Period 3)
Cape Town to Antarctica to Namibia (19 Feb – 29 Mar 08)
AKES (Antarctic Krill and Ecosystem Studies) is IMR’s project to investigate target
strength and abundance of krill (Euphausia superba) and the abundance and the pelagic
fish and squid in the Bouvetøy area. The main objectives are:
 to evaluate the links between the krill resources and distribution in the area and
Bouvetøya based mammals and birds
 to study krill biology and ecology
 to establish TS (Target strength; the ability of an organism to reflect sound) for krill and
ice fish
 to study aggregations of krill, fish and plankton relative to the hydrography
 to compare aggregations and abundance of krill and plankton relative to hydrography in
Antarctica and Nordic Seas
 stomach contents and feeding behavior of krill and fish.
In addition the fishing vessel "Saga Sea" fishing krill commercially will also be used as a
platform to study krill swarms.
Webjorn Melle and Peter Wiebe (Continued)
Sampling stations and activities from GO Sars cruise
Webjorn Melle and Peter Wiebe (Continued)
Sites from GO Sars cruise
Sigi Schiel and Astrid Cornils
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research
On 26 October, RV Polarstern began its first leg of the 24th Antarctic cruise from Bremerhaven,
Germany to Cape Town, South Africa with 43 scientists on board. Among these were 26
zooplanktologists from 11 nations.
Zooplankton nets (MOCNESS-10: 5 nets with 333 µm mesh site, MOCNESS-1, 9 nets with
333 µm mesh size, maxi MultiNet: 9 nets with 150 µm mesh size) were deployed at 9 Stations
including 4 deep sea hauls reaching to a maximal depth of 5110 m.
The samples won were partly evaluated directly on board. 60,000 Animals were sorted and 473
species determined.
Taxonomic
Specimens
Species
Group
Ostracods
Copepods
Euphausiids
Amphipods
Gastropods
Cephalopods
Chaetognaths
Fish
Total
Sorted
22,500
28,700
179
380
1,181
67
11,084
1,778
Identified
95
104
23
35
52
23
22
118
65,869
473
A journalist and a photographer of the German scientific journal GEO also joined the cruise
(see http://www.geo.de/_components/GEO/article/specials/polarstern/index.html
Sigi Schiel and Astrid Cornils
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research
POLARSTERN XXIV-1