Oral-atrial length and developmental stage composition of Salpa thompsoni collected during RV Tangaroa cruise TAN1810 to the Chatham Rise, New Zealand

Development stage composition (demography) of a Salpa thomsponi population was studied at the Chatham Rise, New Zealand in October and November 2018 using oblique krill net tows (2 mm mesh size, 3.2 m² mouth opening) in the top 200 m of the water column. Three areas with similar oceanographic characteristics were sampled over the course of three weeks. Development stages were defined for blastozooids and oozooids according to classifications from Foxton (1966) and Daponte et al. (2001). Oral-atrial length of salp specimens were measured and blastozooid/oozooid ratios calculated for each sampling event.