Usefulness of deep-ocean water pumping for the seasonal monitoring of mesozooplankton

The Okhotsk Sea is the southernmost seasonally ice-covered ocean in the Northern Hemisphere. Because of the ice coverage during winter, seasonal monitoring of zooplankton is difficult by ordinary ship-board observation. To overcome this issue, zooplankton monitoring of samples collected by deep-ocean water pumping may be useful. In this study, we evaluated seasonal changes in the zooplankton community based on the samples collected by deep-ocean water pumped from a 350-m depth off of Rausu Harbor in the southern Okhotsk Sea at 2.5-day intervals over two and a half years. Zooplankton abundance and biomass ranged from 20-550 inds. m−3 and 6-902 mg WM m−3, respectively. Both parameters showed similar seasonal changes throughout the study period. Copepods were the most dominant taxa throughout the year and accounted for 90% and 76% of the annual mean zooplankton abundance and biomass, respectively. A total of 20 genera and 33 copepod species were observed. Metridia okhotensis and M. pacifica accounted for 61% and 12% of the annual mean copepod abundance, respectively. In general, the abundance and biomass of zooplankton collected by pumped-up deep-ocean water were lower than they were in the epipelagic layer (both characteristics of the former corresponded to approximately 60% of the latter). The combined effects of low zooplankton density at the deep layer (350 m) and the low filtering rate of deep-water pumping are considered to be a possible cause of the low zooplankton abundance and biomass in the pumped-up deep-ocean water. For the zooplankton samples from pumped-up deep-ocean water, there was a high abundance of benthopelagic mysids and copepods (Xanthocalanus spp.). Because the water inlet of the deep-ocean water pumping is located near the sea bottom, the collected samples may be useful for the evaluation of seasonal changes in the population structure of the less-studied benthopelagic species.