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Zooplankton of Wellington Harbour, New Zealand

December

page 25

December

Sea surface temperatures vary between 15°C. and 17.5°C. but most of the recordings are around 17°C. The volume of plankton in this month is similar to November, and varies between l00cc and 150cc. The abundance of Obelia geniculata medusae falls off rapidly towards the end of the month, and by December Pleurobrachia pileus is usually rare. Ihlea magalhanica occurs rarely, but Thalia is still absent. Larval Crustacea are abundant but comprise less than one-third of the volume of plankton. Forty species of decapod larvae have been isolated in December samples. Petrolisthes novaezelandiae, Callianassa filholi and Jaxea sp. are dominant among the Decapoda. Up to 5,000 larvae of Jaxea sp. are recorded in some samples. In December brachyuran zoeas occur in peak abundance for the year.