Species Diversity and Abundance Distribution of Pelagic Siphonophores in Nan Wan Bay of Taiwan, China, in Late Autumn and Early Winter

Zooplankton surveys were carried out on November 2-3 and December 8-10, 2001 at 12 stations in the Nan Wan Bay of Taiwan, China. Altogether 92 quantitative zooplankton samples were collected from subsurface water and bottom water layers with two conical plankton nets （180 cm in length, 45 cm in opening diameter, 333μm and 200 larn in mesh size）. A total of 31 species of Siphonophores were identified, among them 7 species are new records in the waters around Taiwan Island, of which Rocacea cymbiformis is a new record in China. Dominated by Chelophyes appendiculata, Bassia bassensis, Diphyes bojani, Diphyes dispar, Abylopsis eschscholtzi and Chelophyes contorta, these species accounted for over 76 % and 63 % of the total abundance in November and December. The species number and Siphonophores abundance in December （25 species, 1.99 inds/m3） were more than those in November （19 species, 0.438 inds/m3）, and they were more in the surface water layer than in the bottom layer at most sampling stations. In early winter, the offshore high salinity water mass was a main factor influencing the distribution. The sampling efficiency for two plankton nets is discussed and the seasonal variation of species number and abundance in the Nan Wan Bay is compared with that in the neighboring waters.

Spatio-temporal variations in the siphonophore community of the northern South China Sea

To understand how hydrological and biological factors affect near-to off-shore variations in the siphonophore community,we sampled zooplankton at 82 stations in the northern South China Sea during summer,winter,and spring.Forty-one species of siphonophore were collected by vertical trawling.The species richness of siphonophores increased from the nearshore to offshore regions in all three seasons of investigation,with maximum richness in summer and minimum richness in winter.The abundance of siphonophores was also higher in summer than in spring and winter,concentrated in the nearshore region in the warm season and scattered in the offshore region in the cold season.Four siphonophore groups were classified according to the frequency of occurrence:nearshore,near-offshore,offshore,and tropical pelagic.Among them,the nearshore group had higher abundance nearshore compared with the offshore.The tropical pelagic group had higher species number offshore than nearshore.Spatial and temporal fluctuations in taxonomic composition and abundance of siphonophores were due to the influence of the coastal upwelling and surface ocean currents of the South China Sea,driven by the East Asia monsoonal system.