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Publication - Allometric relationships of ecologically important Antarctic and Arctic zooplankton and fish species

Fokje L. Schaafsma, Carmen L. David, et al., 2022. Allometric relationships of ecologically important Antarctic and Arctic zooplankton and fish species. Polar Biology 45 (2), 203-224
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Abstract

Allometric relationships between body properties of animals are useful for a wide variety of purposes, such as estimation of biomass, growth, population structure, bioenergetic modelling and carbon flux studies. This study summarizes allometric relationships of zooplankton and nekton species that play major roles in polar marine food webs. Measurements were performed on 639 individuals of 15 species sampled during three expeditions in the Southern Ocean (winter and summer) and 2374 individuals of 14 species sampled during three expeditions in the Arctic Ocean (spring and summer). The information provided by this study fills current knowledge gaps on relationships between length and wet/dry mass of understudied animals, such as various gelatinous zooplankton, and of animals from understudied seasons and maturity stages, for example, for the krill Thysanoessa macrura and larval Euphausia superba caught in winter. Comparisons show that there is intra-specific variation in length–mass relationships of several species depending on season, e.g. for the amphipod Themisto libellula. To investigate the potential use of generalized regression models, comparisons between sexes, maturity stages or age classes were performed and are discussed, such as for the several krill species and T. libellula. Regression model comparisons on age classes of the fish E. antarctica were inconclusive about their general use. Other allometric measurements performed on carapaces, eyes, heads, telsons, tails and otoliths provided models that proved to be useful for estimating length or mass in, e.g. diet studies. In some cases, the suitability of these models may depend on species or developmental stages.

Authors

NameOrganization
Fokje L. SchaafsmaWageningen Marine Research (Den Helder)
Carmen L. David
Doreen KohlbachNorwegian Polar Institute, Norway
Julia EhrlichAlfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research
Giulia CastellaniAlfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research
Benjamin A. LangeNorwegian Polar Institute, Norway
Martina VortkampAlfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research
André MeijboomWageningen Marine Research (Den Helder)
Anna Fortuna-Wünsch
Antonia Immerz
Hannelore Cantzler
Apasiri Klasmeier
Nadezhda Zakharova
Katrin SchmidtUNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH, UK
Anton P. Van de PutteRoyal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
Jan Andries van FranekerWageningen Marine Research (Den Helder)
Hauke FloresAlfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research

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Doi: 10.1007/s00300-021-02984-4 | UUID: 1967bf2d-b6d1-5f7c-89e5-acd08f1a0b9b | Version:1 | Added on: 7 February 2022 15:22