Distribution of the pelagic copepod Temora turbinata in New Zealand coastal waters, and possible trans-tasman population continuity

Abstract

The quantitative distribution of Temora turbinata in summer appears to be governed in the New Zealand region by subtropical currents and by its nutritional requirements. The existence of T. turbinata principally in coastal waters suggests that threshold nutritional conditions exist beneath which this species cannot breed. Temora turbinata apparently attains very large numbers only in enclosed or semi‐enclosed bodies of water, where wholesale exchange of local water with adjacent water does not take place. Australian and New Zealand populations may be kept mixed by the introduction of animals from the Australian coast in the meandering zonal jet which leaves the East Australian Current at about 34° S. © 1977 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.