Interannual and geographical variability of the brood size of the wuphasiids Euphasia pacifica and Thysanoessa spinifera along the Oregon coast (1999-2004)

Abstract

Brood sizes of 1259 adult female Euphausia pacifica and Thysanoessa spinifera were measured during 48 h incubations (10 °C, ±0.5 °C) on 27 oceanographic cruises between July 1999 and September 2004. The data set includes measurements from several stations off Newport, Oregon (Newport Hydrographic line, 44°39′N) made over a 5-year period and measurements from 14 more extensive cruises at stations representative of continental shelf, slope, and oceanic waters off Oregon and California, USA. E. pacifica had similar brood sizes at inshore (<200 m) and offshore (>200 m) stations with an average of 151 and 139 eggs brood−1 fem−1, respectively. T. spinifera brood sizes were considerably higher at inshore stations—particularly at Heceta Bank (44°N) and south of Cape Blanco (42°50′N)—than at offshore stations, 155 and 107 eggs brood−1 fem−1, respectively. Average brood sizes of E. pacifica increased during the study period, from 125 (in 2000) to 171 eggs brood−1 fem−1 (in 2003). Average percentage of carbon weight invested in spawning (reproductive effort) was higher in E. pacifica ( 14%) than in T. spinifera ( 6%), because both species have similar brood size but T. spinifera females are larger than E. pacifica females and produce smaller eggs. Reproductive effort for both species was higher during summer 2002, probably associated with anomalous cool subarctic waters and high chl-a concentration observed during that summer. Brood si