Summer tide‐crack zooplankton at white island, mcmurdo sound, antarctica

Abstract

The standing crop and succession of the zooplankton are described for a tide crack community in permanent ice of the Ross Ice Shelf at White Island, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. The zooplankton in the tide crack was dominated by three species of copepod: acalanoid, Parabidocera grandispina (Waghorn 1979); a cyclopoid, Pseudocyclopina belgica (Giesbrecht 1902); and an harpacticoid, Tisbe prolata (Waghorn 1979). Each species had marked peaks in abundance; from late November until mid December P. belgica and T. prolata were most abundant while from mid December till early January P. grandispina dominated. Within the tide crack both the phytoplankton and the copepods show a distinct pattern of succession and the breeding patterns of the copepods are synchronised with the limited period of phytoplankton blooms. The tide crack is an important nursery for P. grandispina and P. belgica and a habitat for the older stages of T. prolata. © Crown copyright 1988.