Assessment of zooplankton at the site of the sinking of the N.R.P. "S. Miguel"

Study Extent

The epizooplankton was collected in 12 sampling stations, which were distributed as follows: Three stations along the Portuguese coast, one at the sinking site, four surrounding the sinking site and ten miles apart, two at the Josephine bank and one at the Bank Gorringe.

Sampling

The epizooplanktonic material was sampled in oblique trawls up to a depth of 200 m using a Bongo 60 net (circular double-mouth net 60 cm in diameter and fitted with two mesh bags of 335 and 505 m aperture). The volume of water sampled in each haul was calculated using the readings of flowmeters attached to each net's mouth. Mesozooplankton was collected using a 10 m2 mouth area Isaacs-Kidd Midwater Raul (IKMT) net with a 505 m mesh bag. The hauls took around 30 minutes to complete at the desired depth.

Method steps

1. All zooplanktonic material collected was kept in 4 percent neutral formalin, with the exception of a tiny portion of the material collected with IKMT that was frozen for examination of the concentration of heavy metals and PCBs. The biovolume of plankton samples was computed in the lab using the volume of water displaced by the organic material after large organisms (> 1 cm in epizooplankton and > 2.5 cm in mesozooplankton) were removed, and its abundance was calculated per 100 m3 of filtered water. Using a magnifying glass and a binocular microscope, species identification and enumeration were carried out in a counting chamber.

Zooplankton

1. Ctenophora
   rank: phylum
2. Bivalvia
   rank: class
3. Gastropoda
   rank: class
4. Ophiuroidea
   rank: class
5. Calanoida
   rank: order
6. Euphausiacea
   rank: order
7. Siphonostomatoida
   rank: order
8. Gymnosomata
   rank: suborder
9. Cirripedia
   rank: superclass
10. Euphausiidae
    rank: family
11. Periphyllidae
    rank: family
12. Polybiidae
    rank: family
13. Scolecitrichidae
    rank: family
14. Spionidae
    rank: family
15. Prayinae
    rank: subfamily
16. Candacia
    rank: genus
17. Centropages
    rank: genus
18. Chirundina
    rank: genus
19. Clausocalanus
    rank: genus
20. Conchoecia
    rank: genus
21. Eucalanus
    rank: genus
22. Euchaeta
    rank: genus
23. Euphausia
    rank: genus
24. Fritillaria
    rank: genus
25. Gaetanus
    rank: genus
26. Nematobrachion
    rank: genus
27. Nematoscelis
    rank: genus
28. Oikopleura
    rank: genus
29. Oithona
    rank: genus
30. Oncaea
    rank: genus
31. Pilumnus
    rank: genus
32. Plesionika
    rank: genus
33. Pleurobrachia
    rank: genus
34. Pontella
    rank: genus
35. Rhincalanus
    rank: genus
36. Sagitta
    rank: genus
37. Scaphocalanus
    rank: genus
38. Stylocheiron
    rank: genus
39. Thysanopoda
    rank: genus
40. Acanthephyra purpurea
    rank: species
41. Acartia (Acartia) danae
    rank: species
42. Acartia (Acartia) negligens
    rank: species
43. Acartia (Acartiura) clausi
    rank: species
44. Aegisthus mucronatus
    rank: species
45. Aetideus armatus
    rank: species
46. Aetideus giesbrechti
    rank: species
47. Agalma elegans
    rank: species
48. Agetus flaccus
    rank: species
49. Bassia bassensis
    rank: species
50. Beroe ovata
    rank: species
51. Calanus helgolandicus
    rank: species
52. Candacia armata
    rank: species
53. Candacia bipinnata
    rank: species
54. Candacia ethiopica
    rank: species
55. Candacia longimana
    rank: species
56. Candacia simplex
    rank: species
57. Cavolinia inflexa
    rank: species
58. Centropages chierchiae
    rank: species
59. Ceratocymba sagittata
    rank: species
60. Chelophyes appendiculata
    rank: species
61. Chiridius poppei
    rank: species
62. Chirundina streetsii
    rank: species
63. Clausocalanus furcatus
    rank: species
64. Clausocalanus jobei
    rank: species
65. Clausocalanus lividus
    rank: species
66. Colobonema sericeum
    rank: species
67. Conchoecissa imbricata
    rank: species
68. Corycaeus clausi
    rank: species
69. Ctenocalanus vanus
    rank: species
70. Decipisagitta decipiens
    rank: species
71. Diacria trispinosa
    rank: species
72. Diogenes pugilator
    rank: species
73. Enneagonum hyalinum
    rank: species
74. Euaugaptilus magnus
    rank: species
75. Euchaeta acuta
    rank: species
76. Euchaeta media
    rank: species
77. Eucopia grimaldii
    rank: species
78. Euphausia brevis
    rank: species
79. Euphausia hemigibba
    rank: species
80. Euphausia krohnii
    rank: species
81. Euphausia similis
    rank: species
82. Evadne nordmanni
    rank: species
83. Evadne spinifera
    rank: species
84. Gaetanus minor
    rank: species
85. Gaetanus pileatus
    rank: species
86. Gennadas elegans
    rank: species
87. Gennadas valens
    rank: species
88. Goneplax rhomboides
    rank: species
89. Haloptilus longicornis
    rank: species
90. Haloptilus plumosus
    rank: species
91. Helicocranchia pfefferi
    rank: species
92. Heliconoides inflatus
    rank: species
93. Helicosalpa virgula
    rank: species
94. Heterorhabdus papilliger
    rank: species
95. Hyperia galba
    rank: species
96. Krohnitta subtilis
    rank: species
97. Lensia multicristata
    rank: species
98. Lensia subtilis
    rank: species
99. Limacina lesueurii
    rank: species
100. Lophothrix latipes
     rank: species
101. Lucicutia longicornis
     rank: species
102. Meganyctiphanes norvegica
     rank: species
103. Mesocalanus tenuicornis
     rank: species
104. Metridia brevicauda
     rank: species
105. Metridia princeps
     rank: species
106. Metridia venusta
     rank: species
107. Muggiaea atlantica
     rank: species
108. Nannocalanus gracilis
     rank: species
109. Nannocalanus minor
     rank: species
110. Nematobrachion boopis
     rank: species
111. Nematoscelis atlantica
     rank: species
112. Nematoscelis megalops
     rank: species
113. Nematoscelis microps
     rank: species
114. Neocalanus gracilis
     rank: species
115. Neognathophausia ingens
     rank: species
116. Nullosetigera helgae
     rank: species
117. Octopus vulgaris
     rank: species
118. Oithona plumifera
     rank: species
119. Oncaea venusta
     rank: species
120. Onychocorycaeus ovalis
     rank: species
121. Oplophorus spinosus
     rank: species
122. Paraeuchaeta gracilis
     rank: species
123. Paraeuchaeta hansenii
     rank: species
124. Paraeuchaeta hebes
     rank: species
125. Paraeuchaeta tonsa
     rank: species
126. Parasergestes vigilax
     rank: species
127. Pareucalanus attenuatus
     rank: species
128. Penilia avirostris
     rank: species
129. Periphylla periphylla
     rank: species
130. Phronima atlantica
     rank: species
131. Phronima colletti
     rank: species
132. Phronima sedentaria
     rank: species
133. Phronimella elongata
     rank: species
134. Phrosina semilunata
     rank: species
135. Phyllopus impar
     rank: species
136. Plesionika richardi
     rank: species
137. Pleuromamma xiphias
     rank: species
138. Processa canaliculata
     rank: species
139. Pseudevadne tergestina
     rank: species
140. Pseudoamallothrix ovata
     rank: species
141. Pseudosagitta lyra
     rank: species
142. Pterosagitta draco
     rank: species
143. Rhincalanus nasutus
     rank: species
144. Robustosergia robusta
     rank: species
145. Sagitta bipunctata
     rank: species
146. Salpa fusiformis
     rank: species
147. Salpa maxima
     rank: species
148. Sapphirina angusta
     rank: species
149. Scaphocalanus echinatus
     rank: species
150. Scina borealis
     rank: species
151. Scolecithricella dentata
     rank: species
152. Scolecithricella vittata
     rank: species
153. Scolecithrix bradyi
     rank: species
154. Scolecithrix danae
     rank: species
155. Scottocalanus persecans
     rank: species
156. Scyllarus arctus
     rank: species
157. Sergestes hanseni
     rank: species
158. Serratosagitta serratodentata
     rank: species
159. Serratosagitta tasmanica
     rank: species
160. Solenocera membranacea
     rank: species
161. Styliola subula
     rank: species
162. Stylocheiron abbreviatum
     rank: species
163. Stylocheiron longicorne
     rank: species
164. Stylocheiron maximum
     rank: species
165. Subeucalanus crassus
     rank: species
166. Subeucalanus monachus
     rank: species
167. Systellaspis debilis
     rank: species
168. Systellaspis pellucida
     rank: species
169. Temora longicornis
     rank: species
170. Temora stylifera
     rank: species
171. Thalia democratica
     rank: species
172. Themisto compressa
     rank: species
173. Themisto gaudichaudii
     rank: species
174. Thysanopoda microphthalma
     rank: species
175. Undeuchaeta major
     rank: species
176. Undeuchaeta plumosa
     rank: species
177. Urocorycaeus furcifer
     rank: species
178. Vibilia armata
     rank: species
179. Vogtia glabra
     rank: species

Portuguese continental EEZ, near the EEZ's outer edge and the Lisbon parallel