Tropical reef ecosystems are generally considered to be sinks of marine zooplankton, mainly due to the predation by scleractinian corals and other planktivores. The present study aims to evaluate the zooplankton community of a coastal reef in two specific environments: the reef edge and open-water channels between patch reefs. Sampling was carried out at two patch reefs that border the Tamandaré coastal lagoon system (Pernambuco State, Brazil). Two passive stationary nets (64 μm mesh size) were used: the Reef Edge Net (REN) and the Channel Midwater Neuston Net (CMNN). Sampling was performed simultaneously at both reefs during eight nocturnal sampling campaigns, always at new moon ebb tides. Zooplankton was classified by “origin” (estuarine, reef, neritic and neritic/estuarine). During all campaigns and at both sites, a significant buildup of zooplankton at the reefs was observed. Reef edges showed significantly higher abundance (77,579 ± 73,985 ind. m−3) and biomass (48.9 ± 45.5 mg C m−3) of zooplankton compared to open-water channels (9982 ± 11,427 ind. m−3 and 11.4 ± 21.9 mg C m−3, respectively). A total of 65 taxonomic groups were identified. Copepods were the most abundant group with a contribution of 69% for total zooplankton abundance, followed by foraminiferans, gastropod veligers, appendicularians, cirripedians nauplii, and polychaete larvae. Copepods from neritic/estuarine environments dominated the reef edges in both relative abundance and relative biomass (91% and 88%, respectively). The unexpectedly high abundance of copepods and other holoplankton at the reef edges, when compared to Indo-Pacific and Caribbean reefs, is probably due to very low cover of corals and other zooplanktivorous sessile animals (< 0.2%) on these coastal reefs, which leads to a very low predation mortality for zooplankters. Also, we propose that the reduced water column above the reef top leads to a buildup of very high densities in these environments.

中文翻译：

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沿海热带珊瑚礁边缘的微型和中型浮游生物（巴西塔曼达雷）

热带珊瑚礁生态系统通常被认为是海洋浮游生物的汇聚区，这主要是由于巩膜珊瑚和其他浮游动物的捕食。本研究旨在评估两种特定环境下的沿海礁石浮游动物群落：礁石边缘和斑块礁之间的开阔水道。在与Tamandaré沿海泻湖系统（巴西伯南布哥州）相邻的两个礁石上进行了采样。使用了两个被动式固定网（网孔尺寸为64μm）：礁石边缘网（REN）和河道中水神经通网（CMNN）。在八次夜间采样活动中，两个珊瑚礁同时进行采样，总是在新月退潮时进行。浮游动物按“起源”分类（河口，礁石，浅水和浅水/河口）。在所有广告系列以及两个站点中，观察到珊瑚礁中浮游动物的大量堆积。与开阔水道（9982±11,427 ind。m-3和11.4±21.9 mg）相比，礁石边缘的浮游生物的丰度（77,579±73,985 ind。m-3）和生物量（48.9±45.5 mg C m-3）明显更高C m-3）。总共确定了65个分类组。pe足类是最丰富的群体，对浮游动物总丰度的贡献为69％，其次是有孔虫类，腹足类，中性类，无节幼体和多毛幼体。来自礁湖/河口环境的足类动物在相对丰度和相对生物量方面均占礁石边缘的优势（分别为91％和88％）。与印度太平洋和加勒比海的珊瑚礁相比，co足类和其他浮游生物在珊瑚礁边缘的出奇地高，这可能是由于这些沿海珊瑚礁上的珊瑚和其他浮游性无柄动物的覆盖率非常低（<0.2％），导致浮游动物的捕食死亡率非常低。另外，我们建议，在这些环境中，礁顶上方水柱的减少会导致非常高的密度。