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Composition and sources of near reef zooplankton on a Jamaican forereef along with implications for coral feeding

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Abstract

Nocturnal near-reef zooplankton from the forereef of Discovery Bay, Jamaica, were sampled during winter and summer 1994 using a diver-operated plankton pump with an intake head positioned within centimeters of benthic zooplanktivores. The pump collected zooplankton not effectively sampled by conventional net tows or demersal traps. We found consistently greater densities of zooplankton than did earlier studies that used other sampling methods in similar locations. There was no significant difference between winter (3491±578 m−3) and summer (2853±293 m−3) zooplankton densities. Both oceanic- and reef-associated forms were found at temporal and spatial scales relevant to benthic suspension feeders. Copepods were always the most abundant group, averaging 89% of the total zooplankton, and most were not of demersal origin. The cyclopoids, Oithona spp., were the numerically dominant organisms, with an average density of 1684±260 m−3. Other zooplankton (e.g., shrimp larvae, crab larvae, polychaetes, chaetognaths, amphipods, and isopods) were highly variable and much less abundant. Near-reef zooplankton abundances were high throughout the night sampling period, not just after sunset and before sunrise as previously described. Mean biomass was 4.5 mg C m−3, with values ranging from 1.0 to 15.6 mg C m−3. This work has important implications for evaluating which zooplankton types are available to benthic suspension feeders, including corals.

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Acknowledgements

We are indebted to Mathew Mills, Sean Grace, and Karen Vandersall for field/diving assistance and Matt Mills and Christine Baier for assistance with sample analysis. We thank Anne Gauzens Willey at Horn Point Laboratory for the identification of unknown copepods. This is publication number 3737 for the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES), Horn Point Laboratory. The work was supported by NSF Grant OCE 9302066 to K. Sebens and J. Purcell and by a University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) research grant to K. Heidelberg. The manuscript was improved with comments by Marjorie Reaka-Kudla and by three anonymous manuscript reviewers. We thank the staff of Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory for use of the facilities and for logistical support.

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  1. The J. Craig Venter Science Foundation/Institute for Biological Energy Alternatives, 1901 Research Blvd., Rockville, MD 20850, USA

    K. B. Heidelberg

  2. Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20872, USA

    K. B. Heidelberg & K. P. Sebens

  3. Shannon Point Marine Center, Anacortes, WA 98221, USA

    J. E. Purcell

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  1. K. B. Heidelberg
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  2. K. P. Sebens
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  3. J. E. Purcell
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Correspondence to K. B. Heidelberg.

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Communicated by: Ecological Editor P. F. Sale

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Heidelberg, K.B., Sebens, K.P. & Purcell, J.E. Composition and sources of near reef zooplankton on a Jamaican forereef along with implications for coral feeding. Coral Reefs 23, 263–276 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-004-0375-0

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