Egg production of Calanus finmarchicus: A basin-scale study

Egg production of Calanus finmarchicus was studied during joint basin-scale surveys in April–June 2003 in the Norwegian Sea. Surveys covered the whole Norwegian Sea and were conducted from Norwegian, Icelandic and Faroese research vessels. Stations were classified as being in pre-bloom, bloom or post-bloom phase according to levels of chlorophyll a and nitrate. Individual egg production rates and population egg production rates were calculated and compared between areas. Both individual egg production rates (eggs female−1 day−1) and population egg production rates (eggs m−2 day−1) were significantly higher in bloom areas compared with pre-bloom and post-bloom areas. However, when integrated over an estimated duration of the three phases, the time-integrated egg production (eggs m−2) in most years was highest in the pre-bloom phase, and this was explained by the longer duration of this phase compared with the two other phases.