Spatio-temporal patterns in the Diel Vertical Migration of the Copepod Metridia lucens in the Northeast Atlantic derived from the Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey

Abstract

The archived data set collected over a 45-yr period (1948-1992) by Continuous Plankton Recorders (CPRs) towed in near-surface waters was used to investigate the diel vertical migration of the copepod Metridia lucens in the northeast Atlantic (47-63?N and 10-30?W). Although the CPR sampling intensity was uniform during the day and the night, M. lucens was caught predominantly in samples collected at night, consistent with a normal diel vertical migration pattern involving movement from greater depth during the day to shallower depths at night. The length of time spent near the surface varied seasonally and was closely correlated (r2 = 0.80) with seasonal change in length of night. The residual variation in length of time spent at the surface was nonrandom, with more time being spent at the surface in spring before the onset of the spring bloom, and less time being spent at the surface in autumn, than that predicted from the length of night at these periods. The timing of this enhanced near-surface occupation in spring varied with latitude, occurring a mean of 3.4 d later per degree of latitude