Microsatellite markers for the Arctic copepod Calanus glacialis and cross-amplification with C. finmarchicus

Calanus glacialis is a major component of Arctic zooplankton and a keystone species in Arctic marine ecosystems. Due to the observed climate warming, its numbers are being reduced to the advantage of a sibling Atlantic species Calanus finmarchicus. We developed and characterized the first set of microsatellite markers in this species to investigate its population genetic structure and dispersal capabilities. Nine polymorphic loci displayed an average of 7.3 alleles (range between 2 and 13) and the levels of expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.039 to 0.806. These provide a valuable tool to understand present connectivity patterns across Arctic regions, look for signatures of past climate effects and predict the response to future climate-driven environmental changes. Additionally, due to the cross-amplification with C. finmarchicus, the markers can be used to discriminate between these sibling species.National Science Centre, Poland [2011/03/B/NZ8/02876]; FCT, Portugal [PTDC/MAR/72630/2006]; EU FP7 Project ATP [226248]; European Community (ASSEMBLE-MARINE) [227799]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Environmental niche overlap in sibling planktonic species Calanus finmarchicus and C. glacialis in Arctic fjords

Knowledge of environmental preferences of the key planktonic species, such as Calanus copepods in the Arctic, is crucial to understand ecosystem function and its future under climate change. Here, we assessed the environmental conditions influencing the development stages of Atlantic Calanus finmarchicus and Arctic Calanus glacialis, and we quantified the extent to which their niches overlap by incorporating multiple environmental data. We based our analysis on a 3-year seasonal collection of zooplankton by sediment traps, located on moorings in two contrasting Svalbard fjords: the Arctic Rijpfjorden and the Atlantic-influenced Kongsfjorden. Despite large differences in water temperature between the fjords, local realized ecological niches of the sibling Calanus species overlapped almost perfectly. The exception was the earliest copepodites of C. glacialis in Rijpfjorden, which probably utilized the local ice algal bloom in spring. However, during periods with no sea ice, like in Kongsfjorden, the siblings of both Calanus species showed high synchronization in the population structure. Interestingly, differences in temperature preferences of C. finmarchicus and C. glacialis were much higher between the studied fjords than between the species. Our analysis confirmed the high plasticity of Calanus copepods and their abilities to adapt to highly variable environmental settings, not only on an interannual basis but also in a climate warming context, indicating some resilience in the Calanus community

Mitochondrial genomes of the key zooplankton copepods Arctic Calanus glacialis and North Atlantic Calanus finmarchicus with the longest crustacean non-coding regions

We determined the nearly complete mitochondrial genomes of the Arctic Calanus glacialis and its North Atlantic sibling Calanus finmarchicus, which are key zooplankton components in marine ecosystems. The sequenced part of C. glacialis mitogenome is 27,342 bp long and consists of two contigs, while for C. finmarchicus it is 29,462 bp and six contigs, what makes them the longest reported copepod mitogenomes. The typical set of metazoan mitochondrial genes is present in these mitogenomes, although the non-coding regions (NCRs) are unusually long and complex. The mitogenomes of the closest species C. glacialis and C. finmarchicus, followed by the North Pacific C. sinicus, are structurally similar and differ from the much more typical of deep-water, Arctic C. hyperboreus. This evolutionary trend for the expansion of NCRs within the Calanus mitogenomes increases mitochondrial DNA density, what resulted in its similar density to the nuclear genome. Given large differences in the length and structure of C. glacialis and C. finmarchicus mitogenomes, we conclude that the species are genetically distinct and thus cannot hybridize. The molecular resources presented here: the mitogenomic and rDNA sequences, and the database of repetitive elements should facilitate the development of genetic markers suitable in pursuing evolutionary research in copepods.Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education [Iuventus Plus] [IP2014 050573]; FCT-CCMAR Portugal [Multi/04326/2013

Postglacial expansion of the arctic keystone copepod calanus glacialis

Calanus glacialis, a major contributor to zooplankton biomass in the Arctic shelf seas, is a key link between primary production and higher trophic levels that may be sensitive to climate warming. The aim of this study was to explore genetic variation in contemporary populations of this species to infer possible changes during the Quaternary period, and to assess its population structure in both space and time. Calanus glacialis was sampled in the fjords of Spitsbergen (Hornsund and Kongsfjorden) in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009 and 2012. The sequence of a mitochondrial marker, belonging to the ND5 gene, selected for the study was 1249 base pairs long and distinguished 75 unique haplotypes among 140 individuals that formed three main clades. There was no detectable pattern in the distribution of haplotypes by geographic distance or over time. Interestingly, a Bayesian skyline plot suggested that a 1000-fold increase in population size occurred approximately 10,000 years before present, suggesting a species expansion after the Last Glacial Maximum.GAME from the National Science Centre, the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education Iuventus Plus [IP2014 050573]; FCT-PT [CCMAR/Multi/04326/2013]; [2011/03/B/NZ8/02876

Toward a global reference database of COI barcodes for marine zooplankton

© The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Bucklin, A., Peijnenburg, K. T. C. A., Kosobokova, K. N., O'Brien, T. D., Blanco-Bercial, L., Cornils, A., Falkenhaug, T., Hopcroft, R. R., Hosia, A., Laakmann, S., Li, C., Martell, L., Questel, J. M., Wall-Palmer, D., Wang, M., Wiebe, P. H., & Weydmann-Zwolicka, A. Toward a global reference database of COI barcodes for marine zooplankton. Marine Biology, 168(6), (2021): 78, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-021-03887-y.Characterization of species diversity of zooplankton is key to understanding, assessing, and predicting the function and future of pelagic ecosystems throughout the global ocean. The marine zooplankton assemblage, including only metazoans, is highly diverse and taxonomically complex, with an estimated ~28,000 species of 41 major taxonomic groups. This review provides a comprehensive summary of DNA sequences for the barcode region of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) for identified specimens. The foundation of this summary is the MetaZooGene Barcode Atlas and Database (MZGdb), a new open-access data and metadata portal that is linked to NCBI GenBank and BOLD data repositories. The MZGdb provides enhanced quality control and tools for assembling COI reference sequence databases that are specific to selected taxonomic groups and/or ocean regions, with associated metadata (e.g., collection georeferencing, verification of species identification, molecular protocols), and tools for statistical analysis, mapping, and visualization. To date, over 150,000 COI sequences for ~ 5600 described species of marine metazoan plankton (including holo- and meroplankton) are available via the MZGdb portal. This review uses the MZGdb as a resource for summaries of COI barcode data and metadata for important taxonomic groups of marine zooplankton and selected regions, including the North Atlantic, Arctic, North Pacific, and Southern Oceans. The MZGdb is designed to provide a foundation for analysis of species diversity of marine zooplankton based on DNA barcoding and metabarcoding for assessment of marine ecosystems and rapid detection of the impacts of climate change.Funding sources for authors of the review paper are described here: Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), and a grant to SCOR from the U.S. National Science Foundation (OCE-1840868). Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) Vidi Grant/Award Number: 016.161.351 to K.T.C.A.P. European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 746186 (POSEIDoN) to D.W.P. The work of K.N.K. was performed in the framework of the state assignment of IO RAS (Theme No. 0128-2021-0007) and partially supported by Russian Foundation for Basic Research grants No. 18-05-60158 and No. 19-04-00955. The work of A.W.Z. was supported by a grant from HIDEA—Hidden diversity of the Arctic Ocean (No. 2017/27/B/NZ8/01056) from the National Science Centre, Poland, and a Fulbright Senior Award. The Norwegian Taxonomy Initiative of the Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre provided funding for A.H. and L.M. (Project Nos. 70184233/HYPNO and 70184240/NORHYDRO), and for T.F. (Project Nos. 70184233/COPCLAD and 70184241/HYPCOP). The work of R.R.H. and J.M.Q. was supported by Census of Marine Life and NOAA Ocean Exploration and Research (NA05OAR4601079 and NA15OAR0110209). The work of S.L. was conducted at the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity at the University of Oldenburg (HIFMB). HIFMB is a collaboration between the Alfred-Wegener-Institute, Helmholtz-Center for Polar and Marine Research, and the Carl-von-Ossietzky University Oldenburg, initially funded by the Ministry for Science and Culture of Lower Saxony and the Volkswagen Foundation through the Niedersächsisches Vorab’ grant program (Grant No. ZN3285)

Distribution and abundance of pteropods in the western Barents Sea

The abundance and horizontal distribution of three pteropod species, Limacina helicina, Limacina retroversa and Clione limacina were examined in the western entrance of the Barents Sea (Polar Front region) in August 2011. Sixteen samples were collected from 8 sampling sites located along a latitudinal transect. The southern part of the study area (south of 73°N) was dominated by L. retroversa, while L. helicina was mostly observed north of 73°N. Surface water temperature differences between the coldest and the warmest station were around 8°C. The highest density of L. retroversa was found in the south, near the Norwegian coast (nearly 52 000 ind. 1000 m−3), while the highest density of L. helicina was observed in the region of the Arctic water masses (nearly 13 000 ind. 1000 m−3). The sampled population of pteropods comprised mainly juvenile stages. Redundancy analysis (RDA) of the relationships between environmental factors (mean and surface salinity, mean temperature, sampling depth, chlorophyll concentration) and the population structure showed that mean temperature was the most important factor in the study area, explaining 70.5% of the pteropod community variation

Influence of environmental factors on the population dynamics of key zooplankton species in the Gulf of Gdańsk (southern Baltic Sea)

Summary: We studied the influence of abiotic environmental factors on the seasonal population dynamics’ of Acartia spp., Temora longicornis and Pseudocalanus sp. in the southern Baltic Sea in the period of 2006–2007 and 2010–2012. Zooplankton samples were being collected monthly at 6 stations located in the western part of the Gulf of Gdańsk with a WP2 net (100 µm mesh sizes) and then analyzed according to the HELCOM guidelines. Although the sampling stations did not significantly differ from each other in the terms of variability of abiotic environmental factors, the biomass of copepods developmental stages differed between them, apart from the shallow stations in both, Gulf of Gdańsk and in its inner part – Puck Bay. According to redundancy analysis, 26.1% of the total variability observed in the biomass of the copepod species has been explained by water temperature, salinity, air temperature, cloudiness, wind speed and direction and station's depth, with the first variable having the greatest power, alone explaining 13.7%. ANOSIM revealed that sampling stations in the Gulf of Gdańsk were significantly different from one another in terms of copepods’ biomasses. Generalized Additive Models fitted for water temperature and salinity were significant for all ontogenetic stages of Acartia spp. and Temora longicornis and for the majority of stages of Pseudocalanus sp. (apart from the C1 for both and the males for salinity). Keywords: Copepoda, Environmental factors, Acartia spp., Temora longicornis, Pseudocalanus sp., Biomas

The effect of temperature on egg development rate and hatching success in Calanus glacialis and C. finmarchicus

The pelagic copepods Calanus glacialis and C. finmarchicus are important components of Arctic marine ecosystems. Projected climate warming may influence the roles they play in the ecosystem. Arctic C. glacialis and boreal C. finmarchicus eggs were incubated at temperatures of 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10°C to investigate the effects of increasing temperature on egg development rate and hatching success. The effect of increasing temperature on median development time, described by B[ebreve]lehrádek's temperature function, was examined using a Bayesian approach. For the studied temperature range, we observed the increase of egg development rates with the increasing temperature, although there was no change in hatching success. Calanus finmarchicus eggs hatched significantly faster than C. glacialis above approximately 2°C; the difference was progressively larger at higher temperatures. This may indicate that the boreal species have physiological advantages in areas where ambient temperatures increase, which may lead to C. finmarchicus outcompeting the Arctic species in situations where timing is important, for example, in relation to spring bloom dynamics. Development time to hatching (DH) was evaluated using B[ebreve]lehrádek's model and a set of different assumptions. The models that best fitted our data were those with species-specific parameters: DH (h)=5940 (T+9.7)−1.63 for C. finmarchicus and DH (h)=14168 (T+14)−1.75 for C. glacialis

Ecosystem maturation follows the warming of the Arctic fjords

Two fjords in West Spitsbergen (Hornsund 77°N and Kongsfjorden 79°N) differ with regard to their exposure towards increasingly warm Atlantic water inflow. Hornsund remains in many respects cooler than Kongsfjorden (on average 2°C SST in summer) and is less influenced by warmer and more saline Atlantic waters. Reported changes in the physical environment (temperature rise, freshwater inflow, salinity drop, turbidity, fast-ice reduction, coastal change) are discussed in the context of biological observations in the pelagic and benthic realms with special reference to krill (Euphausiacea). We conclude that well-documented changes in the physical environment have had little effect on the fjord biota and that both organisms and their ecological functions in the fjords are well adapted to the scale of ongoing change. The observed changes fit the definition of ecosystem maturation, with greater diversity, a more complex food web and dispersed energy flow at the warmer site

Supplementary Material 1.tif

<div>Original photograph of the Papua New Guinea rhodaliid by Andrey Ryanskiy.<br></div><div><br></div><div>Mańko K.M., Weydmann A., Mapstone G.M. (2017) A shallow-living benthic rhodaliid siphonophore: citizen science discovery from Papua New Guinea. Zootaxa</div