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Science 8 May 2009:
Vol. 324. no. 5928, pp. 791 - 793
DOI: 10.1126/science.1170987
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Reports

Basin-Scale Coherence in Phenology of Shrimps and Phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean

P. Koeller,1,* C. Fuentes-Yaco,1,2 T. Platt,1,3 S. Sathyendranath,1,2,3 A. Richards,4 P. Ouellet,5 D. Orr,6 U. Skúladóttir,7 K. Wieland,8 L. Savard,5 M. Aschan9

Climate change could lead to mismatches between the reproductive cycles of marine organisms and their planktonic food. We tested this hypothesis by comparing shrimp (Pandalus borealis) egg hatching times and satellite-derived phytoplankton bloom dynamics throughout the North Atlantic. At large spatial and long temporal (10 years or longer) scales, hatching was correlated with the timing of the spring phytoplankton bloom. Annual egg development and hatching times were determined locally by bottom water temperature. We conclude that different populations of P. borealis have adapted to local temperatures and bloom timing, matching egg hatching to food availability under average conditions. This strategy is vulnerable to interannual oceanographic variability and long-term climatic changes.

1 Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Post Office Box 1006, Dartmouth, B2Y 4A2 Nova Scotia, Canada.
2 Dalhousie University, Halifax, B3H 4R2 Nova Scotia, Canada.
3 Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, PL1 3 Plymouth, UK.
4 Northeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, 166 Water Street, Woods Hole, MA 02543-1026, USA.
5 Pêches et Océans Canada, Institut Maurice-Lamontagne, 850 Route de la Mer, Caisse Postale 1000, Mont-Joli, G5H 3Z4 Québec, Canada.
6 Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Centre, Post Office Box 5667, St. John’s, A1C 5X1 Newfoundland, Canada.
7 Marine Research Institute, Post Office Box 1390, Skúlagata 4, 121 Reykjavik, Iceland.
8 National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, Post Office Box 101, DK-9850 Hirtshals, Denmark.
9 Norwegian College of Fisheries Science, University of Tromsø, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: }{koellerp{at}mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca}{

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)