Micronektonic Community Composition and Trophic Structure Within the Bathypelagic Zone in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico Scott E
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University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2006 Micronektonic community composition and trophic structure within the bathypelagic zone in the eastern Gulf of Mexico Scott E. Burghart University of South Florida Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons Scholar Commons Citation Burghart, Scott E., "Micronektonic community composition and trophic structure within the bathypelagic zone in the eastern Gulf of Mexico" (2006). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/2466 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Micronektonic Community Composition and Trophic Structure Within the Bathypelagic Zone in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico by Scott E. Burghart A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy College of Marine Science University of South Florida Major Professor: Thomas L. Hopkins, Ph.D. Thomas G. Bailey, Ph.D. Tamara M. Frank, Ph.D. Joseph J. Torres, Ph.D. Gabriel A. Vargo, Ph.D. Date of Approval: October 27, 2006 Keywords: abundance, biomass, diet, zoogeography, reproduction © Copyright 2006, Scott E. Burghart ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am very grateful for the contributions the following people and organizations made to this project. Richard Bohrer, Joe Donnelly, Steve Geiger, Ralph Kitzmiller, James Locascio, Ernst Peebles, Nadina Piehl, Andrew Remsen, Chris Simoniello, Tracey Sutton, Gregory Tolley, and José Torres all provided valuable aid, input and moral support. I am thankful for the identifications provided by Karsten Hartel, Heather Judkins and Ted Pietsch, Tracey Sutton and Mike Vecchione. I am also thankful for the technical assistance provided by Bill Flanery, Mike Hall, Charlie Jones, Chad Lembke, Jimmy Mulhollon, Jim Mullins, Jim Patten, Randy Russell, Scott Samson, Rich Schmid, Graham Tilbury, the Florida Institute of Oceanography (FIO), the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON), and Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution (HBOI). The crews of the R/V Suncoaster, and the R/V Pelican, deserve praise for their hard work and dedication, without which no samples would have been collected. I would also like to thank the BBC for providing some of our ship time, as well as Jean Claude Sorbe, Brian Kensley, and Mike Vecchione of the Smithsonian Institution for their helpful input. I am grateful to my committee members: Tom Hopkins, José Torres, Gabe Vargo, Tammy Frank, and Tom Bailey, as well as S. Gregory Tolley for agreeing to chair my defense. Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Terri, and my family for their patience, understanding and unfailing support. Table of Contents List of Tables iii List of Figures v Abstract vii Chapter 1: The Bathypelagic Decapoda, Lophogastrida and Mysida of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico 1 Introduction 1 Methods 3 Results 8 Hydrography 8 Sample Contamination 11 Crustacean Faunal Composition 11 Vertical Distribution 14 Shrimp Biomass 18 Discussion 19 Biomass Calculations 19 Comparison with Mesopelagic Assemblage 20 Zoogeography 26 Conclusion 30 Chapter 2: The Bathypelagic Fishes of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico 31 Introduction 31 Methods 32 Results 33 i Assemblage Composition 33 Vertical Distribution 41 Discussion 42 Comparison with Other Studies 42 Comparison with Mesopelagic Assemblage 44 Zoogeography 49 Conclusion 52 Chapter 3: Community and Trophic Structure of the Bathypelagic Micronekton in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico 53 Introduction 53 Methods 54 Results 56 Overall Community Structure 56 Diet 60 Discussion 63 Meso- and Bathypelagic Community Comparison 63 Sources of Bias in Diet Data 65 Diet Composition 68 Vertical Distribution of Dietary Copepods 73 Primary Trophic Pathways 75 Conclusions 79 References 81 Appendicies 90 Appendix A 91 Appendix B 92 Appendix C 95 About the Author End Page ii List of Tables Table 1: List of bathypelagic trawl samples with their corresponding depths and type of gear 5 Table 2: Sample occurrence, abundance and biomass of bathypelagic shrimp species in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. 15 Table 3: Vertical distribution results for the 14 most abundant species of bathypelagic shrimp using Fisher's LSD procedure. 18 Table 4: Zoogeography of bathypelagic shrimp species found in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. 29 Table 5: Sample occurrence rates, abundances, and biomass of bathypelagic fish species in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. 37 Table 6: Worldwide occurrence of fish species found in the bathypelagic zone of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. 50 Table 7: Familial composition, in terms of abundance and biomass, of the bathypelagic micronekton in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. 57 Table 8: Percent contribution the twenty largest contributors of abundance and biomass in the bathypelagic zone of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. 59 Table 9: Comparison of biomass distribution between prominant families in the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. 64 Table 10: Diet composition results for fourteen species of bathypelagic micronekton from the eastern Gulf of Mexico. 69 iii Table 11: Percentage contribution of major prey groups to the diets of two decapod families in the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. 71 Table 12: Copepod taxa occurring in the diets of bathypelagic micronekton expressed as percentage of total number of copepods. 73 iv List of Figures Figure 1: Location of the study area in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. 3 Figure 2: Representative depth trace (from SC97B 03) depicting oscillation of the net within targeted depth horizon. The arrows indicate times at which the net was opened and closed. 7 Figure 3: Potential temperature and salinity profiles from the bathypelagic zone of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Data is from all tows during cruise P98. 9 Figure 4: T-S diagram from the eastern Gulf of Mexico during cruise P98. 10 Figure 5: Number of bathypelagic shrimp species identified against samples collected. 12 Figure 6: Vertical distribution of abundance (A) and Biomass (B) of bathypelagic shrimp in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. 17 Figure 7: Relative abundance of shrimp families between the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. 24 Figure 8: Relative biomass of shrimp families between the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. 25 Figure 9: Number of fish species identified versus number of samples collected in the bathypelagic zone of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. 34 Figure 10: Vertical distribution of fish numbers between depth strata in the bathypelagic zone of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. 42 Figure 11: Dominance comparison of fish species abundance between the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. 45 Figure 12: Relative abundance of fish families between the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. 48 v Figure 13: Relative biomass of fish families between the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. 48 Figure 14: Cluster results for diet composition based on prey biomass. 61 Figure 15: Cluster results for diet composition based on prey size. 63 Figure 16: Trophic impact of major families in the mesopelagic (A) and bathypelagic (B) zones in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. 78 vi Micronektonic Community Composition and Trophic Structure Within the Bathypelagic Zone in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico Scott E. Burghart Abstract The Earth’s most extensive living space is found in the bathypelagic zone of the oceans, yet research in these areas is scant. The micronekton of the bathypelagic zone in the eastern Gulf of Mexico (EGOM) was investigated with the goals of comparing its community structure and trophic interactions with those of the well-studied overlying mesopelagic micronekton. Significant changes in faunal structure were found, including shifts in dominant families as well as species. Compared to the mesopelagic zone, the bathypelagic community had increased abundance and biomass contributions from the Gonostomatidae, Oplophoridae, and Eucopiidae, with a simultaneous decrease in the importance of the Myctophidae and the Dendrobranchiata. The changed faunal structure within the crustacean assemblage includes a distinct difference in reproductive strategies. There is increased prevalence of taxa which feature egg brooding and abbreviated larval development. In addition, the bathypelagic zone was characterized by relatively large biomass contributions from rare but large species, particularly those within the families Oplophoridae and Nemichthyidae. The faunal shifts, in combination with a high percentage of bathypelagic species absent from mesopelagic samples (~50% of crustacean and ~37% of fish species), suggest the bathypelagic zone is home to a distinct pelagic community, with a biology and ecology fundamentally different from that of the mesopelagic zone. The broad zoogeographic distributions of bathypelagic species suggest the EGOM assemblage is possibly similar to that of other geographic locations at similar latitudes. Diet analysis was performed on several prominent species and revealed 2 major feeding strategies based on diet composition and prey size. Species of Cyclothone and Eucopia preyed vii on small planktonic crustaceans, while the decapods