were most numerous in summer and fall. 

 Cladocerans were at an annual low in winter, 

 and numbers of pteropods were low in all 

 seasons (<100/100 m.3). Among the mero- 

 plankton, larval cirripeds were most numer- 

 ous in spring. In sunnmer, crustacean eggs, 

 fish eggs, decapod larvae, and brach^uran 

 larvae, were in peak abundance. 



Group and Species Composition by Season 

 and Area 



Areal distributions of the abundant zoo- 

 plankton groups (seasonal mean >100/lOO m.-' ) 

 were determined by season for each of the 

 Gulf areas (table 4). In 1965 copepods de- 

 creased in abundance from west to east in 



Table 4. --Mean niunber of the dominant zooplanlrton groups per 100 m. of water in each area and 

 season. Gulf of Maine coastal waters, 1965 and 1966 



