Abstract:

This dataset reports plankton species relative abundances from sites off the Florida Panhandle Bight at the head of DeSoto Canyon. Plankton samples were collected from 16 offshore shelf sites October 24 to October 26, 2011. It includes sites, date/times,length of tow, plankton samples, counts, and the percentage of total plankton represented by each group. Plankton species were categorized as Ceratium spp., Dinophysis spp., other dinoflagellates, Chaetoceros/Bacteriastrum spp., Rhizosolenia/Guinardia spp, Eucampia/Hemiaulus spp., other chain-forming diatoms, Thalassionematales spp., Nitzschioid diatoms, other diatoms, Cyanobacteria (Trichodesmium spp.), and zooplankton.

Suggested Citation:

Nienow, James. 2014. Plankton species abundance data collected during R/V Bellows cruise BE-1205 in the DeSoto Canyon from 2011-10-24 to 2011-10-26. Distributed by: Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative (GRIIDC), Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/N7BP00R8

Purpose:

To evaluate the biological diversity and trophic interactions among organisms ranging from primary producers to apex predators and from the deep-sea benthos to the coast. These data contribute to a food web model used to determine risks to ecosystem structure and function and regional economies following from extreme anthropogenic events (e.g., discharged and background hydrocarbon) and adaptive management strategies.

Data Parameters and Units:

site (station ID), date/time (MM-DD-YY/hh:mm, EST), length of tow (meters), count (diatoms and dinoflagellates counted as cells, cyanobacteria as colonies/filaments, zooplankton as individuals), Percentage (percentage of total plankton represented by each group). Sampling sites, location and depth of vertical tows are as follows: Station P1: 30o 15’ N; 87o 15’ W; 18 meters Station P3: 30o 05’ N; 87o 15’ W; 26 meters Station P5: 29o 55’ N; 87o 15’ W; 45 meters Station P7: 29o 45’ N; 87o 15’ W; 100 meters Station P9: 29o 25’ N; 87o 15’ W; 100 meters Station C1: 30o 20’ N; 86o 40’ W; 20 meters Station C3: 30o 10’ N; 86o 40’ W; 25 meters Station C5: 30o 00’ N; 86o 40’ W; 75 meters Station C7: 29o 50’ N; 86o 40’ W; 100 meters Station C9: 29o 30’ N; 86o 40’ W; 100 meters Station A1: 30o 08’ N; 85o 46.5’ W; 18 meters Station A3: 29o 59.5’ N; 85o 52‘ W; 26 meters Station A5: 29o 51.25’ N; 85o 58’ W; 33 meters Station A7: 29o 42.75’ N; 86o 03.5’ W; 40 meters Station A9: 29o 34.75’ N; 86o 09.5’ W; 75 meters Station D1: 29o 17.6' N, 87o 0.00’ W; 100 meters

Methods:

net mesh size = 25 micrometers, net diameter = 0.5 meters

Individual Files: