Seasonal variation in community structure and body length of dominant copepods around artificial reefs in Xiaoshi Island, China

This study aims to investigate the seasonal variations in copepod community structure and prosome length of dominant species from March 2009 to January 2010 around artificial reefs in Xiaoshi Island, Yellow Sea, Weihai, China. Samples were collected using two types of plankton net (Model I and Model II) for different-sized copepods. The number of taxon was calculated from the data of both the net types, while the copepod abundance was done using the samples from Model II only. Sixteen species of planktonic copepods, including 5 dominant species, were recorded. Results reveal that Oithona similis was the first dominant species from March to June, and was replaced by Paracalanus parvus in September; both dominated the copepod community in January. Acartia hongi was the second dominant species from March to September. Centropages abdominalis was the third dominant species from March to June, and was replaced by O. similis in September and Corycaeus affinis in January. C. affinis was the fourth dominant species in September. Population density of the dominant copepods was compared with that of other similar regions. We found that the dominant species were mostly small copepods (<1 mm) except for adult Centrapages abdominalis. Seasonal variation in prosome length of O. similis, C. abdominalis, and C. affinis, and their copepodites were studied for the first time in China. For P. parvus and A. hongi, seasonal trends in prosome length variation were similar with those in Jiaozhou Bay, Yellow Sea, Qingdao, China, in a similar temperate domain. The results are helpful for future calculation of copepod biomass and production, and for investigation of the relationship between copepods and fish resources.