Interannual and Spatial Variation in Small Zooplankton off Vincennes Bay, East Antarctica

Although small zooplankton are an important component of both the classical food web and microbial loop, fundamental information about small zooplankton in the Southern Ocean is lacking. This study presents the interannual and horizontal variabilities of small zooplankton and the population structure of the key small copepod species Ctenocalanus citer off Vincennes Bay, East Antarctica. Zooplankton were sampled with a 100 µm mesh net during austral summer from 2016 to 2018. Small copepods numerically dominated all samples, with Oithona spp., Oncaeidae, C. citer and nauplii being particularly abundant (> 75