Development of quantitative monitoring method for zooplankton inhabiting the ocean twilight zone

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26660151
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Aquatic bioproduction science
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: MUKAI TOHRU 北海道大学, 水産科学研究院, 教授 (60209971)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 澤田 浩一 国立研究開発法人水産研究・教育機構, 水産工学研究所, グループ長 (30372080) ; 山本 潤 北海道大学, 北方生物圏フィールド科学センター, 助教 (10292004)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: トワイライトゾーン / 動物プランクトン / デジタルカメラ / 音響的手法 / 光学的手法 / 定量化

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This application was aimed at developing a method of quantifying zooplankton inhabiting the ocean twilight zone with depths of 200 to 500 meters using a combination of the acoustic and the optical method. Using the acoustic method, besides krill, which has many examples of measurements up to now, it was also possible to measure the acoustic scattering cross-section which is the scale factor in quantification for copepods and amphipods. On the other hand, with the optical method, it was possible to photograph zooplankton at depths of up to 100 meters using a general-purpose digital camera with external flash. Further shooting at greater depths could not be realized due to troubles in the equipment.

Free Research Field

水産音響学