Secondary production of Ampelisca mississippiana Soliman and Wicksten 2007 (Amphipoda, Crustacea) in the head of the Mississippi Canyon, northern Gulf of Mexico

• Published in: Deep-sea research. Part II, Topical studies in oceanography Topical studies in oceanography, 2008-12, Vol.55 (24), p.2692-2698
• Main Authors: Soliman, Y.S., Rowe, G.T.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ampelisca; Amphipoda; Crustacea; Deep-sea benthos; Freshwater; Gulf of Mexico; Marine; Mississippi Canyon; Secondary production
• ISSN: 0967-0645; 1879-0100
• DOI: 10.1016/j.dsr2.2008.07.019

Annual production was calculated for the dominant ampeliscid amphipod Ampelisca mississippiana [Soliman, Y., Wicksten, M., 2007. Ampelisca mississippiana a new species (Amphipoda: Gammaredea) dominated the head of the Mississippi Canyon (Northern Gulf of Mexico). Zootaxa, submitted] at the head of the Mississippi Canyon in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Average densities were 12,094±2499 ind m −2, with secondary production of 6.93 g dry wt m −2 yr −1, based on the “size-frequency method” [Hynes-Hamilton, H.B.N., Coleman, M., 1968. A simple method for assessing the annual production of stream benthos. Limnology and Oceanography 13, 569–573; Menzies, C.A., 1980. A note on the Hynes-Hamilton method of estimating secondary production. Limnology and Oceanography 25(4), 770–773], with a production/biomass ( P/ B) ratio of 3.11. Growth rates of this magnitude are comparable to available data for freshwater and shallow marine ampeliscids, but are unexpectedly high for deep-ocean habitats. Growth efficiency appeared to be approximately 35% (Growth/Assimilation×100).