Acta Adriatica, Vol. 53 No. 2, 2012.
Original scientific paper
Zooplankton composition and distribution across coastal and offshore waters off Albania (Southern Adriatic) in late spring
Marijana MILOSLAVIĆ
; Institute for Marine and Coastal Research, University of Dubrovnik, Croatia
Davor LUČIĆ
; Institute for Marine and Coastal Research, University of Dubrovnik, Croatia
Jakica NJIRE
; Institute for Marine and Coastal Research, University of Dubrovnik, Croatia
Barbara GANGAI
; Institute for Marine and Coastal Research, University of Dubrovnik, Croatia
Ivona ONOFRI
; Institute for Marine and Coastal Research, University of Dubrovnik, Croatia
Rade GARIĆ
; Institute for Marine and Coastal Research, University of Dubrovnik, Croatia
Marko Žarić
; Institute for Marine and Coastal Research, University of Dubrovnik, Croatia
Fundime MIRI OSMANI
; Research centre of Flora and Fauna, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tirana, Albania
Branka PESTORIĆ
; Institute of Marine Biology, Kotor, Montenegro
Enkeleda NIKLEKA
; Agricultural University of Tirana, Tirana, Albania
Spase SHUMKA
; Agricultural University of Tirana, Tirana, Albania
Abstract
We present for the first time composition, numerical abundance and vertical structure of microand mesozooplankton in the Albanian coastal and open sea region. Zooplankton was sampled at six stations on the 75-km long continental shelf slope transect in May 2009. The most numerous microzooplankton were copepod nauplii (maximum: 39 ind. L-1), followed by calonoid and cyclopoid copepodites (maxima: 5 and 4 ind. L-1, respectively). The most abundant of fourteen tintinnid species was Tintinnopsis radix, found in the surface to 50 m layer. The species composition of the coastal and open sea mesozooplankton was similar to that previously reported for the south Adriatic Sea. The copepod Oithona similis was the dominant species at all stations, followed by Oithona plumifera, Acartia clausi, Paracalanus parvus, Oithona nana and cyclopoida-oncaeids at the shallower coastal stations, and Clausocalanus pergens, Oithona plumifera and Oithona nana offshore. Mesozooplankton diversity rose considerably from the coast to the open sea. Mesozooplankton abundance exhibited the opposite trend, with the maximum (2286 ind. m-3) noted at the shallowest station. Findings of typically open sea tintinnid and copepod species at the coastal station indicate the high influence of currents from the open sea area during our investigation. Our results suggest the low influence of fresh water on zooplankton population densities, even at the shallow stations where penetration of fresh water in the surface layers was notable.
Keywords
microzooplankton; mesozooplankton; species diversity; Mediterannean Sea
Hrčak ID:
94351
URI
Publication date:
1.12.2012.
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