Abundance and biomass of mesozooplankton in the Levantine Basin during the Bilim 2 cruise in April 2008

The Sesame dataset contains mesozooplankton data collected during April 2008 in the Levantine Basin (between 33.20 and 36.50 N latitude and between 30.99 and 31.008 E longitude). Mesozooplankton samples were collected by using a WP-2 closing net with 200 µm mesh size during day hours (07:00-18:00). Samples were taken from 0-50, 50-100, 100-200 m layers at 5 stations in Levantine Basin The dataset includes samples analyzed for mesozooplankton species composition, abundance and total mesozooplankton biomass. Sampling volume was estimated by multiplying the mouth area with the wire length. Sampling biomass was measured by weighing filters and then determined by sampling volume. The samples were sieved sequentially through meshes of 500 and 200 micron to separate the mesozooplankton into size fractions. The entire sample (1/2) or an aliquot of the taxon-specific mesozooplankton abundance and the total abundance of the mesozooplankton were was analyzed under the binocular microscope. Minimum 500 individuals of mesozooplankton were identified and numerated at higher taxonomic level. Taxonomic identification was done at the METU- Institute of Marine Sciences by Alexandra Gubanova,Tuba Terbiyik using the relevant taxonomic literatures. Mesozooplankton abundance and biomass were estimated by Zahit Uysal and Yesim Ak.

Abundance of mesozooplankton in the Levantine Basin during the Bilim 2 cruise in October 2008

The Sesame dataset contains mesozooplankton data collected during October 2008 in the Levantine Basin (between 33.20 and 36.50 N latitude and between 30.99 and 31.008 E longitude). Mesozooplankton samples were collected by using a WP-2 closing net with 200 µm mesh size during day hours (07:00-18:00). Samples were taken from 0-50, 50-100, 100-200 m layer at 5 stations in Levantine Basin The dataset includes samples analyzed for mesozooplankton species composition, abundance and total mesozooplankton biomass. The entire sample (1/2) or an aliquot was analyzed under the binocular microscope. Minimum 500 individuals of mesozooplankton were identified and numerated at higher taxonomic level. Taxonomic identification was done at the METU- Institute of Marine Sciences by Alexandra Gubanova,Tuba Terbiyik using the relevant taxonomic literatures. Mesozooplankton abundance and biomass were estimated by Zahit Uysal and Yesim Ak Örek. Specification via marine planktonic copepods database (http://copepodes.obs-banyuls.fr/en/).

Abundance of mesozooplankton in the Cilician Basin during the Bilim 2 cruise in March 2008

The Sesame dataset contains mesozooplankton data collected during March 2008 in the Cilician Basin (between between 35.40'- 36.79 N latitude and 33.19- 36.07 E ). Mesozooplankton samples were collected by using a WP-2 closing net with 200 micron mesh size during day hours (07:00-18:00). Samples were taken in the 0-50, 50-100, 100-200 m layer at 6 stations in the Cilician Basin. The dataset includes samples analyzed for mesozooplankton species composition, abundance and total biomass (Dry weight(mg/m**3)). Taxon-specific mesozooplankton abundance: 1/2 sample or an aliquot was analyzed under the binocular microscope. Copepod species were identified and enumerated; the other mesozooplankters were identified and enumerated at higher taxonomic level (commonly named as mesozooplankton groups). Taxonomic identification was done at the METU-Institute of Marine Sciences by Tuba Terbiyik using the relevant taxonomic literatures. Mesozooplankton total abundance: 1/2 sample or an aliquot was analyzed under the binocular microscope. Copepod species were identified and enumerated; the other mesozooplankters were identified and enumerated at higher taxonomic level (commonly named as mesozooplankton groups). Taxonomic identification was done at the METU-Institute of Marine Sciences using the relevant taxonomic literatures

Abundance of mesozooplankton in the Mediterranean Sea in August and September 2008 during SES_GR2

The SES_GR2_Mesozooplankton dataset is based on samples taken during August-September 2008 in Ionian Sea, Libyan Sea, Southern Aegean Sea and Northern Aegean Sea. Sampling volume was estimated by the net mouth surface and the towing distance for WP-2. The sample was split on board in two halves by using the beaker approach. The first sub-sample was immediately fixed and preserved in a seawater formalin solution containing about 4% buffered formaldehyde to allow the determination of species composition abundance. Pipette for the subsamples used in the taxonomic analysis of zooplankton under binocular microscope.

Abundance of mesozooplankton in the SESAME Italian cruise S-IT2 in the Ionian Sea in March 2008

The "SESAME_IT2_ZooAbundance_0-50-100m_SZN" dataset contains data of mesozooplankton species composition and abundance (ind. m-3) from samples collected in the Ionian Sea in the late winter (2-8 March) of 2008 during the SESAME-WP2 cruise IT2. Samples were collected by vertical tows with a closing WP2 net (56 cm diameter, 200 ?m mesh size) in the following depth layers: 100-200 m, 50-100 m, 0-50 m. Sampling was always performed in light hours. A flowmeter was applied to the mouth of the net, however, due to its malfunctioning, the volume of filtered seawater was calculated by multiplying the the area by the height of the sampled layer from winch readings. After collection, each sample was split in two halves (1/2) after careful mixing with graduated beakers. Half sample was immediately fixed and preserved in a formaldehyde-seawater solution (4% final concentration) for species composition and abundance. The other half sample was kept fresh for biomass measurements (data already submitted to SESAME database in different files).Here, only the zooplankton abundance of samples in the upper layers 0-50 m and 50-100 m are presented. The abundance data of the samples in the layer 50-100 m will be submitted later in a separate file. The volume of filtered seawater was estimated by multiplying the the area by the height of the sampled layer from winch readings. Identification and counts of specimens were performed on aliquots (1/20-1/5) of the fixed sample or on the total sample (half of the original sample) by using a graduate large-bore pipette. Copepods were identified to the species level and separated into females, males and juveniles (copepodites). All other taxa were identified at the species level when possible, or at higher taxonomic levels. Taxonomic identification was done according to the most relevant and updated taxonomic literature. Total mesozooplankton abundance was computed as sum of all specific abundances determined as explained above.