Vertical Ichthyoplankton Distribution in the Middle Atlantic Bight

Data from 1965 to 1975 documents the vertical distribution of ichthyoplankton and other zooplankton collected by NOAA ships DOLPHIN and DELAWARE II in the Middle Atlantic Bight. The dataset, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) to its F124 standard format, was gathered for the Bureau of Land Management. It supports studies of marine population abundance, distribution, and ecosystem productivity.

Use Cases

• Analyzing ichthyoplankton (fish egg and larvae) density and distribution by species using reported life history codes and counts.
• Studying vertical zooplankton community structure through data on sampling depths, gear type, and water volume filtered.
• Investigating relationships between environmental parameters (temperature, salinity, bottom depth) and zooplankton abundance.
• Conducting time-series analysis of marine populations across the 1965-1975 sampling period using cruise, date, and position information.
• Calibrating modern ecosystem models with historical baseline data on holoplankton and meroplankton density estimates.

Strengths

• Data is standardized to the NODC F124 format, ensuring consistency in structure and variable reporting.
• Provides a multi-year temporal coverage from 1965 to 1975, allowing for decadal-scale analysis.
• Includes detailed biological data such as species-level counts for adults, juveniles, eggs, and larvae.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, file sizes, and the complete column schema are not provided by any source, limiting precise assessment of scope.
• There is a conflict in reported temporal coverage: datagov lists 1965-66 and 1972-75, while the shared metadata title indicates an end date of 1974-07-21.
• License and author information are consistently reported as unknown across platforms.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), originally collected for the Bureau of Land Management.

Collection Method

Vertical sampling from NOAA ships DOLPHIN and DELAWARE II, processed by NODC to its standard Zooplankton (F124) format.

Time Range

1965-12-04 to 1975

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:12:20.070196

Geography

Middle Atlantic Bight