Grand Manan 



(I7)EASTERN AREA 



Elizabetfi^^ 



N. 



-44" 



-43' 



42° 



70' 



69° 



68' 



67 W. 



Figure 1. — Zooplankton sampling stations. Gulf of Maine coastal waters, 1967 and 1968. Station numbers are shown 



in parentheses. 



greater than 2 cm. in their broadest dimension, 

 and all fish larvae were excluded. Zooplankton 

 samples were divided into aliquots, ranging 

 from a half to a sixty-fourth, depending on the 

 mass of the sample, and sorted into major tax- 

 onomic groups. Copepods were identified to 

 species, and numbers of copepods and other 

 zooplankters per 100 m.^ were calculated. 



ABUNDANCE, COMPOSITION AND 

 DISTRIBUTION OF ZOOPLANKTON 



Observations were made of the seasonal and 

 annual changes in zooplankton abundance, com- 

 position, and distribution in 1967 and 1968. 



Zooplankton Volumes 



Seasonal trends in zooplankton volumes were 

 similar in the Z years with one exception (fig. 



2). Volumes increased from winter to a spring 

 peak and declined in summer in both years; 

 from summer to autumn, however, they de- 

 creased in 1967 and increased in 1968. These 

 volumes are considered minimal estimates of 

 abundance as sampling was done only in day- 

 light in the upper 20 m. of water with relatively 

 large-mesh netting (0.366 mm. apertures). 



Volumes at each station were examined for 

 differences among areas with the Kruskal- 

 Wallis analysis of variance (Siegel, 1956). 

 Differences in station values among the areas 

 were significant (P < 0.05) in winter, spring, 

 and autumn 1967 and in spring 1968. Volumes 

 generally decreased from west to east. Differ- 

 ences among the areas were not significantly 

 different in autumn and winter 1968, and in the 

 summer of both years (table 1). 



Trends in zooplankton abundance were simi- 

 lar along the coast in 1967 and 1968; mean 

 annual volumes for each of the areas declined 



