Abundance of mesozooplankton in the Ionian Sea in March-April 2002@en

Mouth diameter of the net was 113 cm, mesh size 200 µm. Each sample was split in two halves; one half was immediately fixed with formaldehyde (2-4% final concentration) for specimen identification and counts, while the other half was maintained fresh and immediately utilized for biomass measurements. Volumes of filtered seawater were estimated by multiplying the area of the net mouth by heights of sampled layers from winch readings. Identification and counts of specimens were performed on aliquots (1/10-1/20) of the fixed samples by using a graduate large-bore pipette. Copepods were identified to the species level and separated into females, males and juveniles (copepodites). All other taxa were identified at the species level when possible, or at higher taxonomic levels. Taxonomic identification was done according to the most relevant and updated taxonomic literature.

网口直径为113厘米，网孔尺寸为200 µm。每份样品均被均分为两份：其中一份立即用终浓度为2%~4%的甲醛固定，用于标本鉴定与计数；另一份保持新鲜状态，即刻用于生物量测定。过滤海水的体积通过网口面积乘以绞车读数所得采样层高度计算得到。固定样品的1/10至1/20等分试样通过刻度大口径移液管完成标本鉴定与计数操作。桡足类（Copepods）鉴定至物种水平，并划分为雌性、雄性以及幼体（桡足幼体，copepodites）。其余所有类群在条件允许时鉴定至物种水平，否则鉴定至更高分类阶元。分类鉴定依据最具相关性且最新的分类学文献完成。