Canal de Mira (Ria de Aveiro, northwestern coast of Portugal)

Zooplankton growth rates; Vertical velocity of the water column (currents); Zooplankton reproduction rate parameters; Microzooplankton grazing; Salinity of the water column; Horizontal velocity of the water column (currents); Temperature of the water column; Zooplankton taxonomy-related abundance per unit volume of the water column; Zooplankton non taxonomy-related abundance per unit volume of the water column; Zooplankton egg hatch proportion; Zooplankton feeding

Plankton recorders; plankton nets; salinity sensor; current meters

The aim of this project is to understand the mechanisms of crab larvae recruitment in Ria de Aveiro, with special reference to Carcinus maenas (L.). Attention is focused on patterns of larval-releasing activity and estuarine reinvasion as related to tidal, diel and lunar cycles, variations in patterns of larval abundance over strong and weak reproductive activity periods, and depth dependent transport of larvae with the estuary. The data set consists of three sub-sets: (i) Two sampling periods were carried out during February/March and May/June 1990 in Canal de Mira, each including fifteen 25 hour sampling cycles at fixed stations beginning at four tide cycle intervals. Each sampling period persisted over one entire lunar month. Within each 25 hour sampling cycle, plankton samples were collected hourly at several depths utilizing a pump. Salinity, temperature and current velocity data along the water column were concurrently obtained; (ii) A series of twelve 25 hour sampling cycles at one fixed station in Canal de Mira was conducted at approximately weekly intervals, from April to July 1991. Within each sampling cycle plankton samples were collected every two hours, at the surface, at mid-water and above the bottom, using plankton nets; (iii) Between January and August of 1991 and 1992, plankton samples were collected every lunar month, at five stations along Canal de Mira, one hour after the nocturnal high water time of last quarter and new moon.

Queiroga, H., Costlow, J.D., and Moreira, M.H. (1994) Larval abundance patterns of Carcinus maenas (Decapoda, Brachyura) in Canal de Mira (Ria de Aveiro, Portugal). Marine Ecolology Progress Series 111: 63-72.,

University of Aveiro, Department of Biology
Campus de Santiago
Aveiro
Aveiro
3810-193
Portugal