Some zooplankton characteristics of warm-core eddies shed by the East Australian Current, with particular reference to copepods

Abstract

Several eddies in the south-western Tasman Sea were investigated to see whether they differed faunistically from the seas around them. Zooplankton samples (0-200 m) were taken by free-fall net for dry weight measurements and copepod analyses. The counts obtained for 20 species of copepod were used to classify 51 stations into (eight) groups. These were taken to constitute the major zooplankton habitats in the study area. These habitats corresponded in most respects with the known physical structure of the study area. Eddies were faunistically distinct from the seas that surrounded them. Eddy J was similar in 1979-1980 to the waters of the East Australian Current, which were periodically entrained within the eddy circulation. There were significant faunal differences between eddy J and eddy F, an isolated eddy sampled in December 1978.