The Application of Novel Research Technologies by the Deep Pelagic Nekton Dynamics of the Gulf of Mexico (DEEPEND) Consortium

The deep waters of the open ocean represent a major frontier in exploration and scientific understanding. However, modern technological and computational tools are making the deep ocean more accessible than ever before by facilitating increasingly sophisticated studies of deep ocean ecosystems. Here, we describe some of the cutting-edge technologies that have been employed by the Deep Pelagic Nekton Dynamics of the Gulf of Mexico (DEEPEND; <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" href="http://www.deependconsortium.org">www.deependconsortium.org</ext-link>) Consortium to study the biodiverse fauna and dynamic physical-chemical environment of the offshore Gulf of Mexico (GoM) from 0 to 1,500 m.

Biotic and abiotic factors influencing forage fish and pelagic nekton community in the Columbia River plume (USA) throughout the upwelling season 1999–2009

Litz, M. N. C., Emmett, R. L., Bentley, P. J., Claiborne, A. M., and Barceló, C. Biotic and abiotic factors influencing forage fish and pelagic nekton community in the Columbia River plume (USA) throughout the upwelling season 1999–2009. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 71: . Large river plumes modify coastal environments and can impact production across multiple trophic levels. From 1999 to 2009, the assemblages of forage fish, predator fish, and other pelagic nekton were monitored in coastal waters associated with the Columbia River plume. Surveys were conducted at night to target vertically migrating species, and community structure evaluated to better understand ecological interactions. Distinct inshore and offshore communities were identified during spring and summer that were correlated with ocean temperature, salinity, plume volume, and upwelling intensity. Resident euryhaline forage fish species, such as smelts, anchovy, herring, market squid, juvenile salmon, and spiny dogfish, showed a high affinity for inshore habitat and the lower salinity plume during spring. Highly migratory species, such as sardine, piscivorous hake, sharks, and mackerels, were associated with warmer, saltier waters offshore, during strong upwelling periods in summer. Overall, our study of pelagic nekton revealed that temporal dynamics in abundance and community composition were associated with seasonal abiotic phenomenon, but not interannual, large-scale oceanographic processes. Forage fish assemblages differed seasonally and spatially from the assemblages of major piscivorous predators. This finding suggests a potential role of the plume as refuge for forage fish from predation by piscivorous fish in the northern California Current.

The influence of midwater hypoxia on nekton vertical migration

Parker-Stetter, S. L., Horne, J. K., and Langness, M. M. 2009. The influence of midwater hypoxia on nekton vertical migration. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 1296–1302. Hypoxia affects pelagic nekton, fish and large zooplankton, distributions in marine and fresh-water ecosystems. Bottom hypoxia is common, but midwater oxygen minimum layers (OMLs) may also affect nekton that undergo diel vertical migration (DVM). This study examined the response of pelagic nekton to an OML in a temperate fjord (Hood Canal, WA, USA). A 2006 study suggested that the OML created a prey refuge for zooplankton. Using acoustics (38 and 120 kHz), the 2007 night DVM patterns of nekton were quantified before (June, August) and during (September) an OML. All months had similar precrepuscular distributions (>50-m depth) of fish and invertebrates. During the September evening crepuscular period, a zooplankton layer migrated upwards (>1.5 m min−1), but the layer's rate of ascent slowed to <0.5 m min−1 when it reached the lower edge of the OML. The bottom edge of the layer then moved below the OML and remained there for 13 minutes before moving through the OML at >1.0 m min−1. As in June and August, fish in September followed the upward migration of the zooplankton layer to the surface, crossing through the OML. Our results suggest that the 2007 OML did not affect zooplankton or fish vertical distributions.