TY - JOUR AU - Antacli, Julieta Carolina AU - Hernández, Daniel Raúl AU - Sabatini, Marina Elena PY - 2014/03/30 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - First report on the contribution of small-sized species to the copepod community structure of the southern Patagonian shelf (Argentina, 47-55°S) JF - Scientia Marina JA - Sci. mar. VL - 78 IS - 1 SE - Articles DO - 10.3989/scimar.03906.31C UR - https://scientiamarina.revistas.csic.es/index.php/scientiamarina/article/view/1499 SP - 17-26 AB - The copepod community structure, with special emphasis on small-sized species, was studied over the southern Patagonian shelf in late summer 2004, applying the first plankton sampling in the region with a fine-mesh (66 μm) net. The key role of the copepods <em>Drepanopus forcipatus</em> and <em>Calanus australis</em> was confirmed, but also the high abundance and frequency of occurrence of the microcopepods <em>Oithona helgolandica</em> and <em>Microsetella norvegica</em> and of the medium-sized copepod <em>Ctenocalanus vanus</em> were revealed. Copepod community structure was nearly homogenous over the entire study area. <em>Drepanopus forcipatus, O. helgolandica</em> and <em>M. norvegica</em> were identified as the typical species of the region, although secondarily <em>C. australis</em> and <em>Oithona atlantica</em> also contributed significantly to community similarity across the area. The study of interspecific relationships of dominant copepods indicated that <em>D. forcipatus</em> and <em>C. australis</em> were associated positively with <em>O. helgolandica</em>, while <em>C. vanus</em>, and <em>M. norvegica</em> constituted a separate assemblage with <em>Clausocalanus brevipes</em> and <em>O. atlantica</em>. The importance of fine-mesh-size nets for collecting the smaller size fractions of mesozooplankton and for accurately portraying the mesozooplankton assemblage structure in the area is stressed by this study. ER -