Journal
ICES JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE
Volume 78, Issue 9, Pages 3356-3371Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/icesjms/fsab002
Keywords
ciliates; diversity; environmental DNA sequencing; Gulf of Mexico; microzooplankton; tintinnids
Categories
Funding
- BP/The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GOMRI) through the Deep-C and CImage Consortia
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This study focuses on ciliate microzooplankton collected from the continental shelf in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, revealing differences in species composition and richness across seasons and gradients from coastal to offshore waters. The research highlights the importance of understanding microzooplankton diversity in ocean ecosystems.
Microzooplankton mediate a critical juncture of autotrophic and heterotrophic microbial production in the water column. Taxonomic and ecological work on this group has been substantial, yet few reports exist for the offshore waters of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). This report focuses on protists in the phylum Ciliophora collected at stations spanning the continental shelf in the northeastern GOM. We hypothesized that patterns of spatial distribution across the region would be west-east along the coast, rather than north-south coastal to offshore, reflecting major freshwater sources. Samples were obtained by 10 mm plankton net for microscopy and by filtration of seawater for DNA extraction and ciliate-specific clone sequencing. Microscopy and molecular analysis recovered 46 and 156 taxa, respectively. Some visually identified taxa were missing from the sequence analysis and sequences from unknown species dominated molecular results. Differences were apparent with both dominant and rare taxa between February and July sampling and across a trophic gradient from coastal influenced stations to those more representative of the offshore environment. This report provides new data on ciliate microzooplankton richness and distribution in the GOM and adds to our understanding of microzooplankton diversity in the ocean.
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