M. Fortier et al., Visual predators and the diel vertical migration of copepods under Arctic sea ice during the midnight sun, J PLANK RES, 23(11), 2001, pp. 1263-1278
Despite the midnight sun, herbivore copepods Calanus hyperboreus, C. glacia
lis and Pseudocalanus acuspes displayed a normal diel vertical migration (N
DVM) under the ice cover of Barrow Strait in spring, ascending into the chl
orophyll-rich under-ice surface layer around maximum relative rate of chang
e in irradiance (DeltaI/I) at dusk but returning to depth a few hours later
, well in advance of the dawn maximum DeltaI/I. Nauplii prey being abundant
above 50 m, the upward night-time incursions of the omnivore Metridia long
a seldom reached beyond <25 m. In the absence of UV-B radiation or a temper
ature gradient, migration out of the euphotic layer was interpreted as a re
action to visual predators (e.g. Arctic cod Boreogadus saida and the hyperi
id amphipod Themisto libellula). Swarms of T. libellula actively preying on
copepods accumulated at the ice-water interface at dusk. Low vulnerability
to visual predators and a more uniform vertical distribution of their food
explained the limited DVM of the small omnivores Microcalanus pygmaeus, Oi
thona similis and Oncaea borealis. Once the feeding migrations developed, t
he daytime depth of the centre of mass of the distribution of a copepod was
correlated to its size (r(2) = 0.63). Our observations suggest that, under
Arctic sea ice, interspecific differences in the pattern and extent of cop
epod DVM can be related to the vertical distribution of potential food and
to vulnerability to visual predators.