Phytoplankton and Bacteria Abundance Data from Gulf of Mexico Cruises

Flow cytometry results detail abundances of phytoplankton taxa and non-pigmented bacteria in the Gulf of Mexico euphotic zone. Data were collected during two NOAA Ship Nancy Foster cruises in May 2017 and May 2018 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This dataset supports a larger project investigating habitat quality for Atlantic bluefin tuna larvae.

Use Cases

• Analyzing spatial and temporal patterns of Prochlorococcus, Synechococcus, and Photosynthetic Eukaryote abundances.
• Correlating bacterial (HBACT) counts with phytoplankton community data.
• Modeling food-web dynamics to assess habitat quality for Atlantic bluefin tuna larvae.
• Investigating the link between plankton abundance and nutrient sources in the open ocean.

Strengths

• Data provides specific taxonomic breakdowns (Prochlorococcus, Synechococcus, Photosynthetic Eukaryotes, HBACT).
• Samples were collected from the euphotic zone during dedicated research cruises in 2017 and 2018.
• Dataset is part of a cross-platform NOAA RESTORE Science Program, indicating curated importance.

Limitations

• Column names and exact row counts are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date (2018-05 19 vs. 2026-03-13).
• Specific license and author information are unavailable.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Field observation via flow cytometry sampling from NOAA Ship Nancy Foster.

Time Range

2017-05-11 to 2018-05-19

Freshness

2026-03 13 20:39:40.554582

Geography

Open ocean Gulf of Mexico, euphotic zone.