Copepod community structure and functional feeding groups off the Central Mexican Pacific (spring of 2015)

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Abstract

Copepods respond rapidly to ecosystem variability at different spatial-temporal scales as part of the pelagic ecosystem and marine trophic webs. This work addresses the lack of knowledge of the copepods community's response to environmental changes in the convergence of the water masses and marine currents of the Central Mexican Pacific (CMP). Zooplankton samples (April 2015) from vertical hauls (100-0 m) and water column environmental variables from CTD casts were obtained. Warm environmental conditions predominated in the CMP due to El Niño 2014-2015. Copepod abundance community is distributed homogeneously without statistical differences in the community structure, collection time, ecological indexes, or functional feeding group. The dominant species were Subeucalanus subcrassus, Centropages furcatus, and Subeucalanus mucronatus. The exclusion of the dominant and abundant species from our statistical analyses allowed us to determine latitudinal differences in the underlying community structure. Statistical analysis (similarity percentage analysis and canonical correspondence analysis) identified three species-sampling stations groups (north, south, pacific) with significant differences in the community composition and functional feeding groups related to contrasting environmental conditions, particularly in the north vs. the south of the CMP related to dissolved oxygen, salinity, and chlorophyll-a concentrations gradients, and to the influence of local and mesoscale oceanographic and biological processes registered in the water column despite the homogeneous tropical conditions. This first approach to the copepod community structure of the CMP also gave us information about the water column environment during a period affected by warm conditions due to El Niño 2014-2015, identifying areas of high productivity with possible effects at higher trophic levels.

Cabrera-Núñez, S., De Silva-Dávila, R., & Hernández-Trujillo, S. (2023). Copepod community structure and functional feeding groups off the Central Mexican Pacific (spring of 2015). Latin American Journal of Aquatic Research, 51(5), 717-733. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3856/vol51-issue5-fulltext-2961

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