Phosphorus content and elemental ratios of gelatinous and soft-bodied zooplankton from the Northeast Pacific

Climate change and anthropogenic disturbances, among other factors, can change the seawater stoichiometry (C/N/P) and consequently elemental ratios of phytoplankton. This change in prey stoichiometry may not be tolerated by all grazer/predator species. Gelatinous and soft-bodied zooplankton (GZ) are suggested to be more resilient to such changes. We sampled GZ species (12 taxa in total) in the Northeast Pacific off British Columbia (Canada), determined their phosphorus (P) content and elemental ratios (C/P, N/P), and analysed intraspecific variability associated with size and ontogeny. P was determined as orthophosphate after acidic oxidative hydrolysis with 5 % H2SO4 according to Grasshoff et al. (1999). Carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) data were taken from Lüskow et al. (2021). P % DW (dry weight) decreased with size for Aequorea sp., Aurelia labiata, Cyanea capillata, and Salpa aspera (species with sufficient sample sizes). P % DW differed significantly for two development stages of the salp S. aspera. C/P and N/P were mostly size- and stage-independent. C/P values of GZ were generally higher than values of crustacean zooplankton.