Plankton samples collected and analyzed by the Continuous Plankton Recorder survey were used to examine the length of time spent near the surface in the North Atlantic and the North Sea by three closely related groups of zooplankton (copepodite stages 1-4 Metridia spp., copepodite stages 5-6 Metridia lucens, and copepodite stages 5-6 Metridia longa). For all three groups, the mean daily length of time spent near the surface in each month of the year covaried seasonally with day length. In addition, the amount of time spent near the surface varied significantly between the three groups, being longest for the copepods of smallest body size (C 1-C4 Metridia spp.) and shortest for the copepods of largest body size (C5-C6 M. longa). These results support the suggestion that diel vertical migration serves to reduce the risk of mortality from visually orienting predators
History
Journal
Limnology and oceanography
Volume
40
Pagination
1461 - 1465
Location
Grafton, Wis.
Open access
Yes
ISSN
0024-3590
eISSN
1541-5856
Language
eng
Publication classification
C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal
Copyright notice
1995, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography