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Biology of Salpa thompsoni at the Chatham Rise, New Zealand: demography, growth, and diel vertical migration

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Abstract

The abundant pelagic tunicate Salpa thompsoni is a major grazer in the Southern Ocean (SO) with high ingestion rates, fast-sinking faecal pellets, and the potential to rapidly grow and form dense blooms. We investigated the length-frequency distribution, maturity stage composition, growth, development speed, and size-specific diel vertical abundance patterns at one of the northernmost habitats of S. thompsoni (Chatham Rise, east of New Zealand, ~ 44°S 178°E). By observing the in situ growth of distinct size cohorts and ex situ on-board experiments, relative growth was estimated for 6–10 mm blastozooids to be between 8.8–11.7% d−1 at ambient temperatures of 10 °C, with good agreement between our cohort-based field estimates and ex situ growth chambers. Transition times between development stages were estimated to be 3.8 ± 1.5 days, allowing for the succession from newly released aggregate chain to functional male blastozooid within 23 days. Integrative Bongo tows in the upper 200 m showed that S. thompsoni not only have daytime-dependent vertical abundance patterns, but also that these are size-specific, with medium-sized blastozooids and large oozooids contributing most to the elevated values during the night. The present study highlights the need for more in-depth biological studies of S. thompsoni at lower latitudes, which will help in understanding their increasingly structuring role in a gradually warming SO.

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Fig. 1

modified from Sutton (2001): SC Southland Current, ECC East Cape Current

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All data were deposited in PANGAEA.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the captain and crew of the R/V Tangaroa for their efforts to collect the specimens, Rob Steward and Christian K. Fender, who helped with staging and measuring of Salpa thompsoni specimens, and Karen Selph, who made flow cytometry measurements. We also thank Michael J. Miller for assistance to improve an earlier version of the manuscript and three anonymous reviewers for constructive comments made on an earlier version of the manuscript.

Funding

This study formed part of the ‘Salp Particle expOrt and Ocean Productivity’ (SalpPOOP) project and was made possible by funds from MBIE, the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund to M. Décima, NIWA and NSF awards #OCE-1756610 and #OCE-1756465 to M. Stukel and K. Selph, for ship time and financial support. This research was also partially supported by the NSERC Discovery Grant RGPIN-2014–05107 to E. A. Pakhomov. F. Lüskow was supported by an IDF scholarship granted by the University of British Columbia.

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Author notes

  1. Moira Décima

    Present address: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British Columbia, 2039-2207 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Florian Lüskow & Evgeny A. Pakhomov

  2. Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Florian Lüskow & Evgeny A. Pakhomov

  3. Hakai Institute, P.O. Box 309, Heriot Bay, BC, V0P 1H0, Canada

    Evgeny A. Pakhomov

  4. Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University, 903 W Tennessee St, Tallahassee, FL, 32304, USA

    Michael R. Stukel

  5. Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies, Florida State University, 2000 Levy Ave, Tallahassee, FL, 32310, USA

    Michael R. Stukel

  6. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), 301 Evans Bay Parade Hataitai, Greta Point, 6021, Wellington, New Zealand

    Moira Décima

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  1. Florian Lüskow
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Correspondence to Florian Lüskow.

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Lüskow, F., Pakhomov, E.A., Stukel, M.R. et al. Biology of Salpa thompsoni at the Chatham Rise, New Zealand: demography, growth, and diel vertical migration. Mar Biol 167, 175 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-020-03775-x

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