1996년 춘계황해의 동물플랑크톤 분포와 환경특성

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between distributional patterns of zooplankton and water masses in the Yellow Sea. Zooplankton were collected at 13 stations of the study area by vertical tow of a standard net with 333㎛ mesh size from about 5m above the bottom to the surface in May of 1996. Copepods were the dominant taxonomic group comprising 61.9% of the total zooplankton abundance collected during the sampling period. Dominant species of copepods were Acartia omorii, Calanus sinicus, Paracalanus indicus, Oithona atlantica, Centropages abdominalis, Corycaeus affinis. A red tide causative dinoflangellate, Noctiluca scintillans, comprised 30.0% of the total zooplankton abundance. Zooplankton abundance ranged from 568 indvs/m3 to 5,849indvs/m3 depending on the sampling stations. Results of cluster analysis based on the zooplankton abundance showed that the study area could be divided into three subareas, Korean coastal waters, offshore waters and adjacent waters to China. Noctiluca scintillans and Acartia bifilosa represented neritic species were dominant in the Korean coastal sampling stations, however, Acartia omorii and Centropages abdominalis represented cold water species were dominant in the offshore stations. Paracalanus indicus represented relatively warm water species were dominant in the adjacent stations to China. The results of R analysis(similarity between species) showed that there was strong similarity(r=0.8) between Noctiluca scintillans and Acartia bifilosa, both of which were found in the stations near the Korean west coast