Abstract
Gelatinous, dark green, cohesive flocculent material was examined from MOCNESS hauls (333 μm mesh) at discrete depth intervals over the water column. The samples were taken in April and May 1988 at two oceanic sites in the NE Atlantic, ca. 300 km apart. The wet weight of the detrital material was measured and the composition was determined by light microscopy and different staining approaches. In May, the amount of detrital material was higher (decreasing from 2000 mg/1000 m3 at 800 m to 200 mg/100 m3 at 3200 m) than in April (decreasing from 700 mg/1000 m3 at 800 m to 20 mg/1000 m3 at 3200 m), probably due to an advanced phytoplankton and salp bloom. The staining approaches indicated slightly depth- and time-dependent differences. Benthic algae were found incorporated in the detrital material, indicating their long-range dispersal.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alldredge, A. L., Passow, U., Logan B. E. (1993). The abundance and significance of a class of large, transparent organic paricles in the ocean. Deep-Sea Res. 40: 1131–1140
Alldredge, A. L., Silver, M. W. (1988). Characteristics, dynamics and significance of marine snow. Prog. Oceanog. 20: 41–82
Bathmann, U. V. (1988). Mass occurrence of Salpa fusiformis in the spring of 1984 off Ireland: implications for sedimentation processes. Mar. Biol. 97: 127–135
Beckmann, W. (1988). The zooplankton community in the deep bathyal and abyssal zones of the eastern North Atlantic. Preliminary results and data lists from MOCNESS hauls during cruise 08 of the RV Polarstern. Ber. Polarforsch. (Bremerhaven) 42: 1–57
Berger, W. H. (1968). Planctonic Foraminifera: selective solution and paleoclimatic interpretation. Deep-Sea Res. 15: 31–43
Biddanda, B. A. (1986). Structure and function of marine microbial aggregates. Oceanol. Acta 9: 209–211
Billett, D. S. M., Lampitt, R. S., Rice, A. L., Mantoura, R. F. C. (1983). Seasonal sedimentation of phytoplankton to the deep sea benthos. Nature, Lond. 302: 520–522
Brattström, H. (1972). On Salpa fusiformis Cuvier (Thaliacea) in Norwegian coastal and offshore waters. Sarsia 48: 71–90
Broecker, W. S., Takahashi, T. (1978). The relationship between lysocline and in situ carbonate ion concentration. Deep-Sea Res. 25: 65–95
Daniel, G. F., Chamberlain, A. H. L., Jones, E. B. G. (1980). Ultrastructural observations on the marine fouling diatom Amphora. Helgoländer Meeresunters. 34: 123–149
Daniel, G. F., Chamberlain, A. H. L., Jones, E. B. G. (1987). Cytochemical and electron microscopical observations on the adhesive materials of marine fouling diatoms. Br. phycol. J. 22: 101–118
Deuser, W. G., Ross, E. H. (1980). Seasonal changes in the flux of organic carbon to the deep Sargasso Sea. Nature, Lond. 283: 364–365
Fournier, R. O. (1970). Studies on pigmented microorganisms from aphotic marine environments. Limnol. Oceanogr. 15: 675–682
Gooday, A. J., Turley, C. M. (1990). Responses by benthic organisms to inputs of organic material to the ocean floor: a review. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. (Ser. A) 331: 119–138
Gordon, D. C. (1970). A microscopic study of organic particles in the North Atlantic Ocean. Deep-Sea Res. 17: 175–185
Gowing, M. M., Silver, M. W. (1985). Minipellets: a new and abundant size class of marine fecal pellets. J. mar. Res. 43: 395–418
Gowing, M. M., Wishner, K. F. (1986). Trophic relationships of deep-sea calanoid copepods from the benthic boundary layer of the Santa Catalina Basin, California. Deep-Sea Res. 33: 939–961
Hardy, A. C. (1923). Notes on Atlantic plankton taken off the east coast of England in 1921 and 1923. Publs Circonst. Cons. perm. int. Explor. Mer. 78: 5–10
Hoek, C. van den (1984). World-wide latitudinal and longitudinal seaweed distribution patterns and their possible causes, as illustrated by the distribution of rhodophytan genera. Helgoländer Mecresunters. 38: 227–257
Hoek, C. van den (1987). The possible significance of long-range dispersal for the biogeography of seaweeds. Helgoländer Meeresunters. 41: 261–272
Honjo, S., Manghanini, S. J., Cole, J. J. (1982). Sedimentation of biogenic matter in the deep ocean. Deep-Sea Res. 29: 609–625
Iseki, K. (1981). Particulate organic matter transported to the deep-sea by salp fecal pellets. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 5: 55–60
Jackson, G. A. (1990). A model of the formation of marine algal flocs by physical coagulation processes. Deep-Sea Res. 37: 1197–1211
Koppelmann, R., Weikert, H. (1992). Full-depth zooplankton profiles over the deep bathyal of the NE Atlantic. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 86: 263–272
Lampitt, R. S. (1985). Evidence for the seasonal deposition of detritus to the deep-sea floor and its subsequent resuspension. Deep-Sea Res. 32: 885–897
Lampitt, R. S., Wishner, K. F., Turley, C. M., Angel, M. V. (1993). Marine snow studies in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean: distribution, composition and role as a food source for migrating plankton. Mar. Biol. 116: 689–702
Lochte, K., Turley, C. M. (1988). Bacteria and cyanobacteria associated with phytodetritus in the deep sea. Nature, Lond. 333: 67–69
Madin, L. P. (1982). Production, composition and sedimentation of salp fecal pellets in oceanic waters. Mar. Biol. 67: 39–45
Matsueda, H., Handa, N., Inoue, I., Takano, H. (1986). Ecological significance of salp fecal pellets collected by sediment traps in the eastern North Pacific. Mar. Biol. 91: 421–431
McGee-Russel, S. M. (1955). A new reagent for the histochemical and chemical detection of calcium. Nature Lond. 175: 301–302
Parker, B. C., Diboll, A. G. (1966). Alcian stains for histochemical localization of acid and sulfated polysaccharides in algae. Phycologia 6: 37–46
Pearse, A. G. E. (1985). Histochemistry. Theoretical and applied. Vol. 2 (4th edn). Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh
Pfannkuche, O., Beckmann, W., Christiansen, B., Lochte, K., Rheinheimer, G., Thiel, H., Weikert, H. (1990). BIOTRANS-Biologischer Vertikaltransport und Energiehaushalt in der bodennahen Wasserschicht der Tiefsee. Ber. Zentrum Meeres- und Klimaforschung Univ. Hamburg 10: 1–159
Pfannkuche, O., Lochte, K. (1993). Open ocean pelago-benthic coupling: cyanobacteria as tracers of sedimenting salp faeces. Deep-Sea Res. 40: 727–737
Rice, A. L., Billett, D. S. M., Fry, J., John, A. W. G., Lampitt, R. S., Mantoura, R. F. C., Morris, R. J. (1986). Seasonal deposition of phytodetritus to the deep-sea floor. Proc. R. Soc. Edinb. (Sect. B) 88: 265–279
Riemann, F. (1989). Gelatinous phytoplankton detritus aggregates on the Atlantic deep-sea bed. Structure and mode of formation. Mar. Biol. 100: 533–539
Silver, M. W., Bruland, K. W. (1981). Differential feeding and fecal pellet composition of salps and pteropods, and the possible origin of the deep water flora and olive-green “cells”. Mar. Biol. 62: 263–273
Smetacek, V. (1985). Role of sinking in diatom life-history cycles: ecological, evolutionary and geological significance. Mar. Biol. 84: 239–251
Smetacek, V., Pollehne, F. (1986). Nutrient cycling in pelagic system: a reappraisal of the conceptual framework. Ophelia 26: 401–428
Sokal, R. R., Rohlf, F. J. (1969). Biometry. W. H. Freeman and Company, San Francisco
Steedman, H. F. (1976). General and applied data on formaldehyde fixation and preservation of marine zooplankton. In: Steedman, H. F. (ed.) Zooplankton fixation and preservation. Monographs on oceanographic methodology 4. UNESCO Press, Paris
Stienen, C., Beckmann, W. (1989). Partikelfluss im Nordatlantik bei 47°N/20°W (JGOFS Station). Berichte Fachbereich Geowissenschaften Univ. Bremen 6: 20–25
Stienen, C., Beckmann, W., Zeitzschel, B. (1988). Patterns of a spring mass sedimentation. EOS Trans. Am. geophys. Un. 69: 1117
Sumner, B. E. H. (1988). Basic histochemistry. John Wiley and Sons, Chichester
Thiel, H., Pfannkuche, O., Schriever, G., Lochte, K., Gooday, A. J., Hemleben, C., Mantoura, R. F. G., Turley, C. M., Patching, J. W., Riemann, F. (1988/1989). Phytodetritus on the deep sea floor in a central oceanic region of the northeast Atlantic. Biol. Oceanogr. (N.Y.) 6: 203–239
Tranter, D. J. (1962). Zooplankton abundance in Australian waters. Aust. J. mar. Freshwat. Res. 13: 106–142
Tyler, P. A., Gage, J. D., Paterson, G. J. L., Rice, A. L. (1993). Dietary constraints on reproductive periodicity in two sympatric deep-sea astropectinid seastars. Mar. Biol. 115: 267–277
Wiebe, P. H., Madin, L. P., Haury, L. R., Harbison, G. R., Philbin, L. M. (1978). Diel vertical migration by Salpa aspera: potential for large-scale particulate organic matter transport to the deep-sea. Mar. Biol. 53: 249–255
Wiebe, P. H., Morton, A. W., Bradley, A. M., Backus, R. H., Craddock, J. E., Barber, V., Cowles, T. J., Flierl, G. R. (1985). New developments in the MOCNESS, an apparatus for sampling zooplankton and micronekton. Mar. Biol. 87: 313–323
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by O. Kinne, Oldendrof/Luhe
BIOTRANS publication no. 31
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Koppelmann, R. Distribution and composition of gelatinous detrital material from closing net hauls in the NE Atlantic. Marine Biology 118, 755–759 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00347525
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00347525