Calanus Copepod Size and Lipid Metrics in North Atlantic 1977-2019

Fisheries and Oceans Canada provides a dataset on wild-collected copepods Calanus spp. and Metridia longa, covering metrics like body size, dry weight, and lipid content. The data spans over four decades from 1977 to 2019 and includes samples from North Atlantic regions such as the Scotian Shelf and Gulf of Maine. It was published in September 2022 by a consortium of researchers including Helenius LK and Runge JA.

Use Cases

• Analyze trends in body size (prosome length) and dry weight across species and North Atlantic sampling sites over the 1977-2019 period.
• Model relationships between lipid content indicators like oil sac area and oil sac volume with environmental or temporal factors.
• Compare biometric metrics such as prosome length and dry weight between Calanus hyperboreus, C. glacialis, C. finmarchicus, and Metridia longa.

Strengths

• Data covers a long temporal range of over 40 years (1977-2019).
• Includes measurements for multiple species and specific North Atlantic geographic regions.
• Published by a governmental research division (Ocean Ecosystem Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada).

Limitations

• The total number of records (rows) and specific variables (columns) are not documented.
• Sample data is unavailable, preventing assessment of data structure and completeness prior to download.

Provenance

Source

Ocean Ecosystem Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Collection Method

Wild collection of copepods from specified North Atlantic sampling sites.

Time Range

1977 to 2019

Freshness

Metadata was last updated in March 2026, though the core data covers up to 2019.

Geography

North Atlantic regions: Scotian Shelf, Gulf of Saint Lawrence, Gulf of Maine-Georges Bank-Nantucket Shoals, Newfoundland shelf.