Zooplankton distribution in Mesophotic Corals at Bajo Frijol seamount, Colombian Caribbean

Abstract

Mesophotic coral ecosystems shelter unique communities, but have not been studied enough due to the high cost for the available technologies. The zooplankton have become the primary food resource of the polyps at these environments, due to the low photosynthesis rate of its zooxanthellae, . Therefore, the purpose of this work was to study the zooplankton community associated to the MCEs in Bajo Frijol, in the Corales de Profundidad National Natural Park, and compare its composition with the zooplankton community from shallower parts of the water column. Three samples were taken, filtering 24 L of seawater (45 µm mesh size) at each station with a device designed to collect zooplankton right on top of the reef substrate. The taxonomic composition, density and relative abundance were obtained. A resemblance analysis was performed, complemented with a cluster, an MDS and a modified Kandoorp test. The analysis showed clear differences between the water column samples from those taken close to the reef. It also showed the separation of the community at the seamount into two large groups: north and center-south, both with exclusive species.