C/7?

(L- ft/
DFO - Library / MPO - Bibliotheque

01002813

A Guide to Zooplankton of
the Northeastern
Pacific
Ocean

Circular (Pacific Biological Station)

84
c.1

I867UI967
 A Guide to Zooplankton

of the

Northeastern Pacific Ocean

by

R. LeBrasseur

and

J. Fulton

LIBRARY
PACIFIC BIOLOGICAC ST&TIOFT
FISHERIES 8c OCEANS _
NANA IMO, BRITISH COLUMBI^
CANADA VSR 5K6

FISHERIES RESEARCH BOARD OF CANADA

Pacific Oceanographic Group
Nanaimo, B.C.

Circular No. 84 November, 1967

 - 1 -

This guide has been prepared in response to requests from schools

and from ship's personnel for information on, and pictures of, the

multitude of local marine zooplankton. A simple key and brief descriptions

have been prepared to assist in their identification. In addition,

directions are included for collecting zooplankton, together with a list

of books written for the public about the sea and its creatures. These

books should in turn lead to more specialized texts and scientific

publications.

The drawings for this guide were prepared by Miss V. Davies. The

authors also gratefully acknowledge the critical assistance of their

colleagues at Pacific Oceanographic Group in the preparation of this

report.
 MEGALOPLANKTON (LARGE ZOOPLANKTERS
eg EUPHAUSIIDS1

ZOOPLANKTON (e.g. COPEPOD)

PHYTOPLANKTON (eg DIATOMS

SMALL PELAGIC FISH

(eg. HERRING or SQUID)

LARGE PELAGIC FISH

(eg SALMON)

SCHEMATIC FOOD WEB SHOWING SOME OF THE PATHWAYS LINKING VARIOUS PLANTS AND ANIMALS,

.
 - 3 -

Marine organisms may be grouped, according to their mode of life,

as benthos (plants and animals crawling on, or attached to, the ocean

floor), as nekton (swimming, freely migrating animals) or as plankton

(floating or drifting plants and animals). Plankton is of importance

because all but a very small fraction of animal life in the oceans is

ultimately dependent upon it for existence. Planktonic life ranges in

size from minute one-celled bacteria and plants such as dinoflagellates

and diatoms to highly developed animals such as shrimp, larval fish and

squid. Plankton are found in all waters - from the surface to the ocean

depths, and from the tropics to the polar seas. They may live for

several days or as long as 2 or 3 years, depending upon their rate of

development. Some forms live all their lives as plankton, while others,

such as larval stages of shore animals and fish, remain a part of the

plankton for relatively brief periods only. All plankton are dependent

upon the sea for distribution and for survival.

The simplest life in the sea comprises the planktonic plants, the

phytoplankton, which utilize the sun's energy to convert the basic

elements and nutrients in the water into new plant material containing

proteins, fats and carbohydrates, without which there could be no marine

animals.

The phytoplankton float in countless millions in the sunlit euphotic

zone, the upper 50 to 300 feet of water. Under optimal conditions they

may double their numbers daily, occurring at times in great concentrations

or "blooms" which color the water. Small and numerically abundant

animals, the zooplankton. graze upon the phytoplankton. The zooplankton

are the basic source of food for juvenile stages of most fish species
 - 4 -

as well as for a variety of other animals. The latter, in turn, form

the food of even larger animals, the nekton, such as fish, porpoise,

and whales. Thus there is a transfer of energy or food in the form of

living and decaying material, which may be regarded as passing from one

group of organisms or trophic level to another. Intermediate between

the various groups of organisms are the bacteria. Bacteria are directly

utilized by some animals but their most important role is to break down

the wastes and dead bodies of plants and animals into useful compounds.

This process of energy exchange is schematically illustrated on page

2. Because of the complexity of the predator-food relationship between

trophic levels, the term "food web' rather than "food chain" has been

sometimes used. Even in this simplified food web it can be seen that the

relationships between organisms may be exceedingly complex. This is

further emphasized when it is realized that many groups of zooplankton

assume different roles in the utilization of and the transfer of energy

during their life cycle. The earlier stages of most zooplankton graze

on phytoplankton and are termed herbivores; later stages may feed upon

smaller zooplankton as well as phytoplankton and are termed omnivores;

and adult stages may be completely carnivores. At each level the amount

of food, or energy available as food, diminishes due to a variety of life

processes such as metabolism and excretion. The energy lost through these

processes may amount to 757o or more of the food which has been eaten,

leaving 257„ or less for growth and reproduction. For example, it could

take between 250 and 1000 pounds of phytoplankton to make one pound of

salmon depending upon whether the salmon ate herbivores or organisms

 - 5 -

further along the food web. Consequently, if man is to harvest the sea

efficiently, he should do so as near to the level of primary production

as is economically feasible. At present, fishing is largely confined

to the collection of animals at the third and fourth trophic levels such

as the planktivore fish (e.g. herring) and the carnivore fish (e.g. salmon).

In future, as the demands for food from the sea increase, greater, efforts

will be directed towards catching fish and other organisms at the third

trophic level and even, in some circumstances, the herbivores at the

second trophic level. However, to achieve greater efficiency in harvesting

the sea it will be necessary to develop new fishing and culturing tech

niques, and new ways of processing fishery products, and also to study

the processes by which food energy is transferred from one group of

organisms to another.

Although the zooplankton consist of a wide variety of dissimilar

animals, they do exhibit some common forms of behaviour. As mentioned

previously, they have relatively weak swimming powers and must rely on

ocean currents for movement from one area to another. However, by moving

a short distance in a vertical rather than in a horizontal direction,

these animals are capable of moving from one type of environment to another,

and of transferring to different current systems, thereby enhancing their

opportunities of finding optimal growing conditions. Many zooplankton

migrate vertically twice a day, moving towards the surface at nightfall

and returning to deeper waters before sunrise. This daily migration brings

the animals into the euphotic zone, where phytoplankton production takes

place, therefore where feeding conditions are likely to be the best.

 - 6 -

Sampling for zooplankton at the surface at night invariably produces a

larger and more varied catch than does sampling in daylight. In the

daytime, many species of zooplankton maintain a position in discrete

layers at different depths, the depth of a layer being dependent upon

the species, its stage of development, and its response to such

environmental factors as the light intensity, and the pressure,density

and temperature of the water. This behaviour pattern leads to the

concentration of organisms in areas where current systems converge, e.g.

along tide lines. Another characteristic common to many zooplankton is

swarming, which, for a variety of reasons such as breeding or feeding,

results in dense accumulations of a species in discrete patches.

Predators, such as fish or whales, often tend to gather in areas where

dense concentrations of zooplankton frequently occur. Such areas include

coastal waters and regions where ocean currents meet, e.g. in the western

north Pacific, where the Oyashio and Kuroshio current systems converge.

Examples in coastal waters are common to most people who spend time along

the sea shore, and sports fishermen are well aware of the increase in the

feeding activity of fish at daybreak or at nightfall.

 - 7 -

KEY

To recognize the different organisms it is best to try to work

through the following key, successively eliminating unlikely organisms,

and then comparing the likely specimen with the most appropriate drawing

and description.

Major Group Character Example

Coelenterate Gelatinous
Transparent
(Medusae and *Radially symmetrical
jellyfish) Saucer or bell-shaped
Unsegmented Aglantha pp. 21
5-150 mm (and larger) Philidium pp. 21

Ctenophore Gelatinous
Transparent
(Combjellies Radially symmetrical, pear or
or sea goose- ball-shaped, with 8 rows of
berries) comb plates
Unsegmented
5-80 mm Pleurobrachia pp. 22

Chaetognath Transparent
*Bilaterally symmetrical, body
(Arrow worms) elongate, arrow or torpedo-shaped
Unsegmented
Eyes not evident
5-45 mm Sagitta pp. 23

Annelid Conspicuous segmentation

Bilaterally symmetrical
Polychaete Body elongate with paired swimming
worms appendages and tentacles
Eyes inconspicuous
5-30 mm Tomopteris pp. 24
 - 8 -

Major Group Character Example

Molluscs Unsegmented
Bilateral symmetry may not be
apparent in some forms

Pteropods Eyes not evident

Coiled, snail-like shell
1-15 mm Limacina pp. 25

No visible shell, globular or

triangular shape with wing-like fins
5-20 mm Clione pp. 25

Cephalopods No visible shell

Eyes well developed
Well developed arms or tentacles
6-60 mm (and much longer) Squid pp. 26

Crustacea Segmented
Bilaterally symmetrical, paired
(water fleas, appendages
shrimps, etc.) Strong exoskeletons or tunics
covering animal

Eyes absent or poorly developed,

sausage-like body
1-10 mm Copepod pp. 27
to 29

Well developed compound eyes

fused to head
Body laterally compressed
3-20 mm Amphipod pp. 30

Well developed stalked compound eyes

Body shrimp-like
Legs for swimming
10-20 mm Euphausiid pp. 31

Well developed stalked compound eyes

Body crab-like or shrimp-like
Legs for walking or grasping
1-20 mm Crab larvae pp. 32

1-50 mm Sergestes pp. 33

 - 9 -

Major Group Character Example

Pisces Segmented
Transparent
(Fish larvae) Eyes well developed
4-50 mm Larval rock sole pp. 34

*Radial symmetry: Having similar parts arranged around a common central

axis, as in jellyfish.

*Bilaterally symmetrical: Capable of being halved by one plane into

equivalent right and left halves, as in fish.

1 inch = 25.4 millimetres = 2.54 centimetres

39.4 inches = 100 centimetres = 1 metre

1 fathom = 6 feet = 1.8 metres

 - 10 -

NOTES

Coelenterates

The coelenterates, or "jelly fish", are very abundant in the

summertime along the beaches and in shallow bays. Most jelly fish

exhibit a life cycle referred to as an alternation of generations.

At one stage the animal is a free-swimming jelly fish or medusa,

while at another stage it is a colony of plant-like animals living

attached to the bottom in shallow water - the hydroid stage. One

species which spends its entire life-history as a free-swimming

medusa is Aglantha digitale (pp.21). Aglantha is often captured in

the open ocean and sometimes is present in the deep water of the

Strait of Georgia. Another species, Philidium (pp.21), is commonly

found near the sea surface. Jelly fish are generally carnivorous,

feeding upon the small animals which come within the grasp of the

numerous tentacles which line the edge of the bell.

Ctenophores

These animals are commonly called comb-jellies or sea goose

berries. The most abundant form on this coast is Pleurobrachia (pp.22)

which is generally found in the warm surface waters in late summer.

It has eight rows of comb-like structures made up of minute hair

like organs called cilia, which are used to propel it through the

water. Unlike the coelenterates, the comb-jellies entangle their

food in a sticky substance secreted by two long trailing tentacles.

After the prey is captured the tentacles contract and pass the food

to the mouth.
 - 11 -

Annelids

In the Strait of Georgia the polychaete worm, Tomopteris.(pp«^0

is present in considerable numbers below 100 m. The deeper plankton

tows during fall and winter contain up to 25% by weight of Tomopteris.

The role of Tomopteris in the food chain is that of a carnivore. It

has been observed to feed voraciously on Sagitta and larval fish; it

has sometimes been found in stomachs of oceanic fish.

Chaetognaths

The Chaetognaths are a group of animals which bear little

resemblance to any other animal group. They are sometimes called

"glass worms" because of their transparency, or "arrow worms"

because of their shape. The most abundant chaetognath locally is

Sagitta elegans (pp.23) • It is a voracious carnivore, capturing

large numbers of copepods, with paired chitinous hooks on either side

of the mouth. It usually swallows its prey whole. It is also

reported to prey upon the early larval stages of fish. Studies of

the food of juvenile salmon show that fish 50 to 70 mm long, can eat

chaetognaths.

Molluscs

Pteropods are related to the snail. The most common s»cies in

this area, Limacina helicina (pp.25) has a coiled shell like that

of asnail, but the part analogous to the snail's "foot" is enlarged

into a "wing" which it uses to swim through the water. It lives in

the surface waters, grazing upon phytoplankton, and is preyed upon

by a wide variety of fish including chum salmon, cod, and rock sole.
 - 12 -

When eaten in quantity by a fish, Limacina give an objectionable

odor to the flesh which may result in the fish being classed as

unfit for human consumption. When found in fish stomachs, Limacina

appear similar in size and color to coffee grounds.

Another member of the same family, Clione limacina (pp.25) has

no external shell, and is commonly called a "sea butterfly".

Unfortunately, when the animal is preserved, the "wings" contract

and much of its beauty is lost. They are carnivores.

The Cephalopods are comprised of squids (pp.26) and octopods

which, in their larval and juvenile stages, are sometimes captured

in plankton tows. Juvenile squid are reported to feed on small fishes

and crustaceans, particularly copepods. Squid occur in great

abundance, providing a major source of food in oceanic waters for

fish such as salmon as well as supporting commercial fisheries in some

areas. In British Columbia squid are not commercially exploited,

although they are purse seined and canned in California.

Crustaceans

Copepods

Copepods are one of the most abundant groups of animals in the

world. They are present in all the oceans and seas of the world,

at all depths and during all seasons. They are usually the most

abundant animal in any zooplankton sample, and can occur in dense

concentrations giving the water a reddish color. This phenomena is

referred to as "red feed" or "red rice". Like other crustaceans,

such as crabs or lobsters, the copepods have an external skeleton

 - 13 -

of chitin, and must moult or shed their skeleton in order to grow.

In its lifetime each copepod moults twelve times. The first six

stages or moults are called nauplius stages and do not resemble the

adult. Although very small, the nauplii are an important source of

food for many larval fish. The next five stages are called copepod

ite stages, and look similar to the final adult except for size and

number of swimming legs. Adults may range between 0.5 and 7 mm long,

depending on the species.

One of the most abundant copepods of the North Pacific is Calanus

plumchrus. (pp. 27) so named because many of its spines bear ornate

feathery structures. The adults lay eggs in the early spring. The young
feed and grow rapidly in the surface waters, reaching copepodite Stage V
before midsummer. The later stages of this copepod are large, rich in

fat, and sometimes abundant enough to color the surface water, forming
an important source of food for many species of fish. The large fat-
laden Stage V C^ plumchrus are believed to cease feeding in midsummer,
when they descend to depths greater than 250 m. They spend the winter at
this or greater depths, using their fat reserve to mature. In spring
they ascend to shallower depths, lay up to 500 eggs, and die without
having fed since the previous summer. C. plumchrus is a particularly
important food source for juvenile, as well as for some adult, fish and
whales.

In the open ocean, as distinct from the coastal inlets and water

ways, Calanus cristatus (pp. 28) has a life history similar to C. plum
chrus . It may be recognized by its larger size (the adult is about
 - 14 -

7 mm long) and by a prominent crest on its head end. It is an

important source of food in the diet of whales.

Other copepods which are abundant in the North Pacific include

Calanus pacificus. Pseudocalanus minutus, Oithona plumifera (pp.29)

and Acartia longiremis. These smaller copepods breed several

times a year and generally remain near the surface. Metridia pacifica.

another small copepod, lives in the deeper water during the day

(usually deeper than 100 m) and migrates to the surface each night

to feed.

The copepods considered so far are predominately herbivores and

therefore must spend part of their lives in surface waters rich in

phytoplankton. Euchaeta japonica (pp.29) is a carnivore which spends

its entire adult life in the deeper waters. Its large mouth parts

are used for grasping prey which usually consists of other copepods.

Amphipods

Most amphipods live in shallow water, either on the bottom or

clinging to weeds. One group, the Hyperids, is planktonic. The

Hyperids have very large compound eyes which take up most of the head,

similar to those of insects. Parathemisto pacifica (pp.30) is the

most abundant amphipod in the North Pacific. It is easily recognized

in a sample since the head is usually pigmented a bright red or

purple. P. pacifica is often captured during the night in surface

plankton tows. It forms an important part of the diet of small

oceanic fishes and of squid.

 - 15 -

In the deeper more southern waters of the North Pacific, the

large (as big as 20 mm) transparent Hyperid amphipod Phronima

sedentaria (pp.30) are occasionally encountered. This species is

notable in that it makes itself a barrel-like house from gelatinous

bodies of pelagic tunicates.

Euphausiids

After copepods, the euphausiids are the most important zoo

plankton group in the world oceans (pp.31). They are largely

omnivorous in their feeding habits. On this coast they are common

in the stomach contents of most larger fish, as well as being the

most important food of whalebone whales. The widely-used Norwegian

term "Krill" refers to swarms of euphausiids.

Euphausiids have luminous organs at the base of the 7th

thoracic leg and at the base of the first four abdominal legs.

The animal gives off short, sharp flashes of light when disturbed.

The tiny flashes of light seen at night in the wake of a ship are

often made by euphausiids.

The most common species of euphausiids in our waters, Euphausia

pacifica. feeds in the surface water at night but migrates to deep

water during the day. This daily migration is often greater than

150 m.

Decapods

Few decapods, other than larval stages of crabs and shrimps,

are caught in the plankton. The exceptions are all pelagic shrimps,
 - 16 -

such as Pasiphaea or Sergestes (pp.33), which occur in deep samples

during the day and in surface samples during the night. They

frequently form part of the incidental catch of pelagic trawl nets.

Little is known of their feeding habits or of their importance to

fish, although they are known to form part of the diet of fur seals.

Temporary plankton

Many animals which live on the bottom of the ocean or on the

shores (benthos) have larval stages which live briefly as zooplankton.

For example, the early life history of shore crabs takes place in

the plankton as a zoea stage (pp.32) which moults into a megalops

stage (pp.32) before settling on the bottom as juvenile crabs.

Another example are the early nauplii stages of the barnacle.

Barnacle nauplii may live as plankton from one to four weeks and then

settle on rocks or other substrates. Other benthic animals which

have planktonic larval stages include teredos, clams, oysters, star

fish, sea-cucumbers, and shrimps.

Larval fish (pp.34) form an important focal point for broad studies

of the food resources of the sea. All factors which influence their

survival require thorough study. As soon as the larvae are ready to

commence feeding, zooplankton of the appropriate size, kind and

quantity are essential. As the fish grow, they may fast for long

periods or may bypass low food concentrations to search out high

concentrations. As they grow they generally prey upon increasingly

largar forms. For example, larval and juvenile fish studies in the
 - 17 -

Strait of Georgia show that the eggs and nauplii of crustaceans

are important sources of food for newly-hatched fish larvae. With

an increase in size and mobility, the fish may feed successively

upon Pseudocalanus. C. pacificus, and C^. plumchrus. However, at

the same time there is also an increased ability to take a broader

size spectrum of prey. The stomach contents of juvenile fish,

30 to 70 mm in length, may consist of organisms ranging from the

size of Oithona to euphausiids. Adult fish show similar feeding

pattern, but the size spectrum of their prey may range from large

copepods to squid and small fish.

 - 18 -

Observing plankton -

During the spring and early summer, plankton is often very

abundant in the Strait of Georgia. On calm days it is possible to

look down into the water and see tiny animals swimming about. At

night, planktonic animals and small fish may be attracted by a strong

light aimed downward into the water from a wharf or boat. When

plankton is very abundant it is possible to capture a few in a bucket

or a small aquarium dip net. Larger samples may be collected by

towing a conical net with very small mesh openings through the water

at 1 to 2 knots for 5 to 10 minutes. A nylon stocking towed or held

in a current will also catch zooplankton. The size of the plankton

caught will depend on part on the mesh size of the net. The most

common mesh used locally to catch zooplankton has openings of about

1/3 of a millimetre.

The amount of zooplankton caught is usually greatest in the spring

and early summer; night catches are usually larger than day catches.

Samples may be preserved by the addition of about 10% formaldehyde.

 - 19 -

Recommended reading -

Books -

Berril, N.J. 1966. The Life of the Ocean. McGraw-Hill, Toronto,

pp. 1-232.

Hardy, A.C. 1956. The Open Sea: Its Natural History: The World

of Plankton. New Naturalist Series, Collins, London, pp. 1-335.

Fraser, J. 1962. Nature Adrift. The story of marine plankton.

Foulis, London, pp. 1-178.

Russel, F.S., and M. Yonge 1963. The Seas. F. Warne and Co.,

London, pp. 1-376.

Wimpenny, R.S. 1966. The Plankton of the Sea. Faber and Faber Ltd.,

London, pp. 1-426.

Manuals -

Newell, G.E. and R.C. Newell. 1963. Marine Plankton, a practical guide.

Hutchinson Educational, London, pp. 1-207.

 - 21 -

Aglantha

COELENTERATE (JELLYFISH)
 - 22 -

Pleurobrachia

CTENOPHORE (SEA GOOSEBERRY)

 - 23 -

Sagitta

CHAETOGNATH (ARROW WORM)

 - 24 -

Tomopteris

ANNELID (POLYCHAETE)
- 25 -

6
o
CO

3
S
 - 26 -

10 mm

Squid

MOLLUSC CEPHALOPOD
 - 27 -

Calanus Plumchrus

CRUSTACEAN COPEPOD
 - 28 -

CRUSTACEAN COPEPOD
 - 29 -

Oithona Euchaeta

CRUSTACEAN COPEPOD
 - 30 -

Phronima

Parathemisto

CRUSTACEAN AMPHIPOD (SEA FLEAS)

 I I mm. i

uKlA Thysanoessa

CRUSTACEAN EUPHAUSIID (KRILL)

 to

Zoea

Megalops

CRUSTACEAN CRAB LARVAE

 to

Sergestes

V.M-P

CRUSTACEAN SHRIMP
- 34 -

CO

o M

o
G5
*'4P•