ZOOPLANKTON ORGANISMS OF THE CAPE CANAVERAL AREA 



Oblique and horizontal plankton tows were 

 made routinely with half- meter nets on T. N. 

 Gill cruises off the southeastern coast of the 

 United States during 1953-54, Information 

 gained to date from the zooplankton data and 

 material from sannples taken in the Cape 

 Canaveral Area is given in tables 13-19 and 

 figures 8-10. These data are extracts from 

 Gill cruise reports (Anderson, Gehringer, and 

 Cohen, 1956a and 1956b; Anderson and Gehr- 

 inger, 1957a, 1957b, 1958a, 1958b, 1959a, 

 1959b, and I960) and from a study of chaetog- 

 naths from Gill cruise sannples (Pierce and 

 Wass, 1962). Several of the organisms identi- 

 fied from these plankton samples and wet 

 volumes of plankton are discussed in detail. 

 Thomas E. Bowman, U.S. National Museunn, 

 furnished identifications of copepods in plank- 

 ton samples from the first four T. N. Gill 

 cruises. 



WET VOLUMES OF PLANKTON 



Wet volumes of plankton for individual 

 samples ranged from 16 to 672 ml. per 1,000 

 m.3 of water strained (table 13). Average 

 values, in ml. per 1,000 m. 3 of water strained, 

 for surface- to 20-fathom waters (146.3-328.2) 

 were higher than those for 20- to 100-fathom 



l^ble 13- — Wet voluioes of plankton, ml. per 1000 m? of yater. Continental 

 Shelf off Cape Canaveral Area, from plankton samples (oblique 

 or surface tow, half-meter net), T. H. Gill cruises 1953-5'+, by 

 depth of water and by Eeason 



[Individual values are volumes for separate samples] 



0-20 fathoms 



87 

 2l»3 

 109 



220 



1*9 

 672 

 193 

 108 

 251 



430 

 581 

 259 

 326 

 187 

 308 

 im. 



3to 



1(01 

 235 

 188 

 110 

 28 

 20 



Total 

 Average 



~I39 

 lW.3 



27951 

 328.2 



163.7 



20-100 fathoms 



111 

 222 



SprinR 



168 

 188 

 270 



216 

 335 

 203 

 W3 

 318 

 252 



16 



128 



Ilk 



151 



Total 

 Average 



333 

 166.5 



tIo 

 185.0 



1,807 1)09 



301.2 102.3 



0-100 fathoms 



0-20 fathoms 

 20-100 fathoms 



Total 



No. of samples 



Average 



439 

 333 



Spring 



1,893 

 7'tO 



2,95lt 



1,807 



I109 



772 

 5 

 I5I1.I' 



2,633 



TTtSi — 

 10 15 



263.3 317.'i 



1,391 

 10 

 139.1 



waters (102.3-301.2), and spring and summer 

 values (263.3-31 7.4) were approxinnately double 

 those for the winter and fall (139.1-154.4). 

 Summer values averaged higher than those for 

 the other seasons (table 13 and fig. 8). 



FISH EGGS 



Numbers of fish eggs per 100 m.3 of water 

 strained for individual samples ranged from 

 1 to 9,784 (table 14). Average values, in 

 numbers per 100 m.3 of water strained, in 

 surface to 20 fathoms in the spring and sum- 

 mer (2,441.8 and 1,192.7) exceeded by roughly 

 15 to 100 times those in the fall and winter 

 (23.2 and 84.0). In 20 to 100 fathoms, average 

 winter, spring, and summer values were 

 nearly equal (767.5, 677.8, and 792.5, respec- 

 tively) and approximately one -third to one- 

 half the spring and summer values inshore 

 (2,441.8 and 1,192.7) and were four to five 

 times the values for the fall (143.2). Average 

 values for the area as a whole in the spring 

 and summer (1,736.2 and 1,032.6) were ap- 

 proximately 3 to 20 tinnes those for the fall 

 and winter (83.2 and 311.8), table 14 and 

 figure 9. 



Menhaden eggs were identified from plankton 

 samples obtained during February on a winter 

 Gill cruise, from 20 to 100 fathoms (Reintjes, 

 1961). Reintjes (1961) stated, "...menhaden 

 spawn along the south Atlantic coast generally 

 from December to February. Furthernnore, 

 the principal spawning areas may be limited 

 to certain localities, namely. Cape Lookout 

 and Cape Canaveral to Jupiter Inlet." 



400 r 

 350 

 300 

 250 

 200 

 150 

 100 

 50 

 



0-100 fathoms 

 -20 fathoms 

 20-100 fathoms 



_L 



J_ 



Winter 



Spring 



Summer 



Fall 



Figure 8. — Wet volumes of plankton, ml. per 1,000 m.^ of 

 water. Continental Shelf off Cape Canaveral Area, from 

 plankton samples, T. N, Gill cruises 1953-54, average 

 values by depth of water and by season. 



28 



