Alvaro Roura | Independent Researcher (original) (raw)

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The common octopus of the Veracruz Reef System (VRS, southwestern Gulf of Mexico) has historicall... more The common octopus of the Veracruz Reef System (VRS, southwestern Gulf of Mexico) has historically been considered as Octopus vulgaris, and yet, to date, no study including both morphological and genetic data has tested that assumption. To assess this matter, 52 octopuses were sampled in different reefs within the VRS to determine the taxonomic identity of this commercially-valuable species using an integrative taxonomic approach through both morphological and genetic analyses. Morphological and genetic data confirmed that the common octopus of the VRS is not O. vulgaris and determined that it is, in fact, the recently described Octopus insularis. Morphological measurements, counts, indices, and other characteristics such as specific colour patterns, closely matched what had been reported for O. insularis in Brazil. In addition, sequences from cytochrome oxidase I (COI) and 16S ribosomal RNA (r16S) mitochondrial genes confirmed that the octopus from VRS are in the same highly-supported clade as O. insularis from Brazil. Genetic distances of both mitochondrial genes as well as of cytochrome oxidase subunit III (COIII) and novel nuclear rhodopsin sequences for the species, also confirmed this finding (0-0.8%). We discuss our findings in the light of the recent reports of octopus species misidentifications involving the members of the "O. vulgaris species complex" and underscore the need for more morphological studies regarding this group to properly address the management of these commercially-valuable and similar taxa.

Bajo condiciones de cultivo, la composición lipídica y, específicamente, el perfil de ácidos gras... more Bajo condiciones de cultivo, la composición lipídica y, específicamente, el perfil de ácidos grasos de las paralarvas cultivadas, es significativamente diferente al de las paralarvas recién eclosionadas. Por tanto, la comparación entre paralarvas salvajes y cultivadas de edad equivalente, permitiría dilucidar si estos cambios detectados en el perfil de ácidos grasos están relacionados con una dieta inadecuada o son causados por el propio desarrollo de la paralarva. En el presente estudio, se analizó por primera vez de forma individual el perfil de ácidos grasos de paralarvas salvajes de Octopus vulgaris y se determinó su edad a través de la deposición diaria de los incrementos en los picos, con el objetivo de profundizar en los requerimientos lipídicos de las paralarvas a lo largo del desarrollo y de esta forma intentar optimizar la dieta de los ejemplares en cultivo

1. un mapeado rápido al principio y al fin de la campaña para localizar el filamento y observar l... more 1. un mapeado rápido al principio y al fin de la campaña para localizar el filamento y observar los cambios en el contexto general durante el estudio; Agradecimientos Quisieramos agredecer al Capitán Ramón Argibay Fernández y a la tripulación del barco por su apoyo magnífico durante la campaña. También agradecemos al equipo de la UTM sin el cuál no hubiese sido posible llevar a cabo el estudio. Damos las gracias al servicio NEODAAS del Plymouth Marine Laboratory, UK, especialmente a Dr Peter Miller, que nos proporcionó diariamente las imagenes AVHRR y Modis Aqua durante el trabajo de campo. CAIBEX es un proyecto del Plan Nacional financiado por el Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (CTM2007-66408).

Poster.-- XVII Congreso Nacional de Acuicultura, Cartagena 7-10 de mayo de 2019Peer reviewe

Investigación: cultura, ciencia y tecnología, 2017

XVII Congreso Nacional de Acuicultura, Cartagena 7-10 de mayo de 2019.-- https://vimeo.com/336789055

Scientific Reports, May 30, 2023

Our knowledge of the diet of wild octopus paralarvae, Octopus vulgaris, is restricted to the firs... more Our knowledge of the diet of wild octopus paralarvae, Octopus vulgaris, is restricted to the first 2 weeks of its planktonic phase when they are selective hunters found near the coastline. These small paralarvae, bearing only three suckers per arm, are transported by oceanic currents from the coast towards offshore waters, where they complete the planktonic phase over 2 months. Here, we have investigated the trophic ecology of O. vulgaris paralarvae in two contrasting upwelling sub-regions of the Iberian Canary current (ICC) eastern boundary upwelling system and have evaluated dietary change as paralarvae develop (inferred by counting the number of suckers per arm, ranging from three to 15) along the coastal-oceanic gradient during their planktonic phase. Using high-throughput amplicon sequencing, we have characterised the diet of 100 paralarvae collected along the Northwest Iberian Peninsula (n = 65, three to five suckers per arm) and off the west coast of Morocco (n = 35, three to 15 suckers per arm), identifying up to 87 different prey species. The diet of paralarvae varied along the ICC, with crabs (53.4%), siphonophores (12.2%), copepods (12.3%), cnidarians (8.4%) and pteropods (3.7%) accounting for 90% of the variability detected off NW Iberian Peninsula, whereas off W Morocco, crabs (46.2%), copepods (23.1%), cnidarians (12.9%), krill (9.3%) and fishes (4.2%) explained 95.6% of the variability observed using frequency of observance (FOO%) data. Ontogenetic changes in the diet based on groups of paralarvae with similar numbers per arm were evidenced by the decreasing contribution of coastal meroplankton and an increase in oceanic holoplankton, including siphonophores, copepods, pteropods and krill. Trophic niche breadth values ranged from 0.06 to 0.67, with averaged values ranging from 0.23 to 0.33 (generalist = 1 and specialist = 0), suggesting that O. vulgaris paralarvae are selective predators through their ontogenetic transition between coastal and oceanic environments. Understanding trophic relationships during the early developmental stages of cephalopods (e.g. octopus, squids, cuttlefishes) is challenging for two primary reasons. Firstly, early life stage cephalopods are infrequently seen in zooplankton communities, i.e., rare occurrences with very low natural abundance 1 normally expressed as individuals/1000 m 3 or 10,000 m 3 and, therefore, are challenging to collect. Secondly, because they quickly break down their prey, it is challenging to identify prey contents visually 1,2. There are two modes of ingestion depending on the prey. Fish larvae are mechanically fragmented using the beak and radula and ingested in small pieces 1,2 , whereas crustacean prey are digested using a complex array of enzymes 3 , specifically evolved to remove the flesh from their exo-or endoskeletons. The beak and radula are then used to suck up the predigested prey leaving empty exoskeletons 4 , however, small pieces of prey can be occasionally ingested 5. These ingestion strategies make studying stomach contents by traditional methods of morphological-based taxonomic identification difficult. There is only one such study on the diet of wild octopod paralarvae of the families Amphitretidae, Argonautidae and Octopodidae collected from the eastern Gulf of Mexico 1 , where prey fragments of euphausiids, fishes, noncephalopod molluscs, chaetognaths, copepods, ostracods, decapods and hyperiid amphipods were detected.

Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Mar 1, 2023

Marine Ecology Progress Series

The common Sydney octopus Octopus tetricus has undergone range extension along the east coast of ... more The common Sydney octopus Octopus tetricus has undergone range extension along the east coast of Australia, associated with regional warming and the strengthening and southward extension of the East Australian Current (EAC). Its historical range of distribution is from southern Queensland to southern New South Wales, but it is now also found off northeast Tasmania, where it may affect local ecosystem dynamics due to changes in trophic interactions. This study aims to identify the prey and trophic level of O. tetricus from specimens collected off Tasmania to anticipate potential ecological, economic, and conservation effects in the rangeextended area. The stomach contents of 18 O. tetricus individuals captured off northeast Tasmania in 2011 were characterised using DNA metabarcoding. Sixteen families of prey were identified; crustaceans (Alpheidae, Calcinidae, Diogenidae, and Galatheidae) were the most frequently detected prey, followed by fishes and bivalves. Prey species of commercial importance included blue-throated wrasse Notolabrus tetricus and the scallop Pecten fumatus. O. tetricus was found to have an intermediate trophic level of 3.66, participating in the transfer of energy from lower to upper trophic levels. Predation by O. tetricus could present competition to local fishers for resources and additional pressure on local fishery stocks, and may alter estimates of natural mortality used by fisheries management. The present study may be useful to scientists, fishery managers, and conservationists because it provides a preliminary assessment of the diet of O. tetricus, with potential ecological, economic, and conservation implications in the range-extended area.

Cephalopod International Advisory Council Conference (CIAC 2018) : Cephalopod Research Across Sca... more Cephalopod International Advisory Council Conference (CIAC 2018) : Cephalopod Research Across Scales: From Molecules to Ecosystems, 12-16 November 2018, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA.-- 1 page

Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2021

Trophic interactions in cephalopod paralarvae are difficult to evaluate due to the ingestion of l... more Trophic interactions in cephalopod paralarvae are difficult to evaluate due to the ingestion of liquified prey contents that are not recognizable by visual methods; however, molecular techniques such as next generation sequencing (NGS) can provide better resolution. In this study, we used NGS techniques to determine the diet of Loligo vulgaris paralarvae collected along the West Iberian Peninsula coast. Trophic analyses were conducted on 31 paralarvae ranging from 1.61-6.01 mm in dorsal mantle length, with an estimated age between 2 and 28 d. The digestive system of each paralarvae was dissected and a 300 bp section of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene was sequenced with the MiSeq platform. After quality selection, 3201878 reads were obtained and 130 amplicon sequencing variants were identified as prey (158457 reads). Crustaceans accounted for 88.09% of the total reads, mainly represented by calanoids (73.22%), euphausiids (5.73%) and decapods (2.75%). Distance-b...

Frontiers in Marine Science, 2019

Rosa et al. Global Biogeography of Coastal Cephalopods are historical processes that may explain ... more Rosa et al. Global Biogeography of Coastal Cephalopods are historical processes that may explain the contemporary Caribbean octopus richness and Mediterranean sepiolid endemism, respectively. Last, we discuss how the life cycles and strategies of cephalopods may allow them to adapt quickly to future climate change and extend the borealization of their distribution.

Journal of Proteome Research, 2018

The saliva of the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) has been the subject of biochemical study for... more The saliva of the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) has been the subject of biochemical study for over a century. A combination of bioassays, behavioural studies and molecular analysis on O. vulgaris and related species suggests that it should contain a mixture of highly potent neurotoxins and degradative proteins. However, a lack of genomic and transcriptomic data has meant that the amino acid sequences of these proteins remain almost entirely unknown. To address this, we assembled the salivary gland transcriptome of O. vulgaris and combined it with high resolution mass spectrometry data from the posterior and anterior salivary glands of two adults, the posterior salivary glands of six paralarvae and the saliva from a single adult. We identified a total of 2810 protein groups from across this range of salivary tissues and age classes, including 84 with homology to known venom protein families. Additionally, we found 21 short secreted cysteine rich protein groups of which 12 were specific to cephalopods. By combining protein expression data with phylogenetic analysis we demonstrate that serine proteases expanded dramatically within the cephalopod lineage and that cephalopod specific proteins are strongly associated with the salivary apparatus.

Aquaculture, 2016

The fatty acid (FA) profile of wild Octopus vulgaris paralarvae of estimated age was individually... more The fatty acid (FA) profile of wild Octopus vulgaris paralarvae of estimated age was individually analyzed for the very first time in order to establish a reference for comparison in rearing and nutritional studies. Age of each paralarvae was estimated by analysing daily increments on lateral hood surface of beaks. Wild paralarvae age ranged between 6-8 days and their FA composition resembled that from hatchlings produced under culture conditions. However, when compared with the FA composition of up to 20 days old cultured paralarvae described in the bibliography, some striking differences were found. Results showed higher levels of docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3, DHA), lower contents of 18:1n-9, 18:1n-7 and 18:2n-6 and negligible levels of 18:3n-3 in wild paralarvae, when collated to reared one. These results seem to indicate that preys/diets supplied to cultured paralarvae fail to resemble paralarval natural composition and as a result do not fulfil their FA requirement. The individual applied technique developed in this study will allow to refine the study of wild paralarvae along its development, as well as to compare wild and cultured paralarvae of similar age.

Fisheries Oceanography, 2016

The early life stages of cephalopods ‐ octopods, squids, sepiolids and ommastrephids ‐, are uncom... more The early life stages of cephalopods ‐ octopods, squids, sepiolids and ommastrephids ‐, are uncommon in zooplankton samples and little is known about their life strategies. Accordingly, cephalopod paralarvae were examined in the upwelling ecosystem of the Ría de Vigo (NW Spain) at night from 2008 to 2010. Multivariate analyses and generalized linear models (GLMs) were used to explore relationships between cephalopod paralarvae and the zooplankton communities that they inhabited in 2008. In addition, the foraging strategy and prey preferences of Octopus vulgaris paralarvae within these communities were determined. Multivariate and GLM results showed a strong association of cephalopod paralarvae with coastal and frontal zooplankton communities. Octopus paralarvae were shown to be specialist predators with a strong preference for decapod zoeae in each of the communities examined. Using the three years of sampling, GLM analyses of paralarval spatio‐temporal variations in relation with t...

Marine Biology, 2018

This study was performed in accordance with existing Spanish guidelines and regulations on animal... more This study was performed in accordance with existing Spanish guidelines and regulations on animal research (Ley 32/2007, November 7th), and was consequently exempt from an ethics review process. All the authors have revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content and have approved the final version to be published. The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. We also declare that the manuscript has not been published previously or split up into several parts, neither the data have been fabricated or manipulated. LARECO (CTM-2011-25929) and CALECO (CTM2015-69519-R) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. Lorena Olmos-Pérez was supported with a FPI grant funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. We would like to thank the reviewers for their suggestions and comments that improved the quality of the manuscript.

Background The Octopus vulgaris species complex consists of numerous morphologically similar but ... more Background The Octopus vulgaris species complex consists of numerous morphologically similar but genetically distinct species. The current publicly available mitogenome of this species has been generated from a specimen collected from Tsukiji Fish Market, Tokyo, Japan. Octopus from the northwestern Pacific Ocean are now considered to be a separate species, Octopus sinensis. For this reason, we hypothesised that the current record of O. vulgaris was sequenced from a specimen of O. sinensis. Here, we sequenced the first complete mitogenome of a specimen of Octopus vulgaris sensu stricto that was collected from the species’ confirmed distribution areas in northeastern Atlantic. Methods and results The complete mitogenome was assembled de novo and annotated using 250 bp paired-end sequences. A single circular contig 15655 bp in length with a mean read coverage of 1089 reads was reconstructed. The annotation pipeline identified 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNAs (tRNA) and ...

Poster.-- XVII Congreso Nacional de Acuicultura, Cartagena 7-10 de mayo de 2019Peer reviewe

Investigación: cultura, ciencia y tecnología, 2017

XVII Congreso Nacional de Acuicultura, Cartagena 7-10 de mayo de 2019.-- https://vimeo.com/336789055

Scientific Reports, May 30, 2023

Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Mar 1, 2023

Marine Ecology Progress Series

Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2021

Frontiers in Marine Science, 2019

Journal of Proteome Research, 2018

Aquaculture, 2016

Fisheries Oceanography, 2016

Marine Biology, 2018

Ultrastructural studies of cephalopod sperm morphology have shown that spermatozoa can be conside... more Ultrastructural studies of cephalopod sperm morphology have shown that spermatozoa can be considered important characters for phylogenetic studies. The sperm structure of Cephalopoda, studied in previous works, exhibit the well known disposition of acrosome, nucleous and flagellum. Whereas there exist a wide range of acrosomal and nuclear morphologies, the flagellum is much simpler with the 9 + 2 uniflagellar axoneme. However, using light microscopy, Laptikhovsky & Nigmatullin (1996) showed evidences of a biflagellate sperm in three loliginid squid species.

The Argonautoidea encloses four intriguing families where " small‐loyal " males sacrifice their h... more The Argonautoidea encloses four intriguing families where " small‐loyal " males sacrifice their hectocotylized arm transferring it to the female during copulation. Haliphron atlanticus females (up to 2 m) are more than six times the size of males (30 cm), even though considered as relatively large males within the argonautids (Young, 2010). The common name of H. Atlanticus is explained by a sexual adaptation, because their detachable‐hectocotylized arm grows within a sac beneath their right eye that gives the male a seven arm appearance. Although this atypical hectocotylus was drawn by Verrill (1981) and its functional morphology suggested by Naef (1923), illustrations do not exist from fresh animals. Therefore, the aim of this poster is to show the detachable hectocotylus of H. atlanticus, the morphology of the penis, the spermatophore groove and the spermatophore itself. The histology of the terminal part of the hectocotylus help us to understand how it works far from the male's body.

Scuba diving photography carried out since 2007 in the coastal region off Northwest Iberian Penin... more Scuba diving photography carried out since 2007 in the coastal region off Northwest Iberian Peninsula (from Aveiro 40º37’N, to Aguete 42º20’N) allowed the identification of the cyclopoid copepod Doridicola aff. agilis, as an ectoparasite of the nudibranch Hypselodoris. Overall, 98 specimens of the genus Hypselodoris were observed, of which 77 were H. cantabrica, 14 H. villafranca and 7 H. tricolor.
Prevalence of 18% were found for H. cantabrica (14 infected hosts from 77 observed specimens), with a mean intensity of 2 parasites per host. On the other hand, prevalence of 14% were recorded either for H. villafranca (2 infected hosts from 14 observed specimens) and H. tricolor (1 infected host from 7 observed specimens), both having a mean intensity of 1 ectoparasite per specimen.
The rhynchomolgid Doridicola aff. agilis has been recorded so far from at least 20 genera of nudibranch, one genus of aplysiomorphs, as well as in the cephalopod Todarodes sagitattus. However, it is the first time that this species has been cited from the nudibranch genus Hypselodoris. The only exception ever recorded for this genus was the ectoparasitic copepod Doridicola larani, associated with the chromodorid nudibranch Hypselodoris obscura described from Moreton Bay, southern Queensland (Pacific Ocean).
Further genetic and morphological analysis is needed in order to identify the copepod species accurately.

Small copepods (<2 mm) are the most abundant metazoans in the world’s oceans, a keystone in pelag... more Small copepods (<2 mm) are the most abundant metazoans in the world’s oceans, a keystone in pelagic food webs. Small copepods are considered to be omnivorous, feeding on unicellular protists and phytoplankton, with carnivorous feeding –i.e. preying on zooplankton- restricted to larger copepods and cyclopoid copepods. We developed a PCR based technique that detected a diverse range of zooplankton species (eight families of decapods, bivalves, fish, and also other copepods) within the digestive tract of copepods traditionally considered to be “herbivorous”. This finding provides evidences that a significant component of copepod diets has been overlooked owed to the methodologies traditionally been carried out –visual inspection and pigments analysis. Such predatory behaviour extends the trophic role of small copepods in upwelling food webs, affecting the mesozooplankton communities through intraguild predation. Furthermore, this study helps to explain the discrepancies found between quantified phyto/microzooplankton ingestion and metabolic demands of copepods.
In order to infer the consequences of this overlooked predatory behaviour to the flux of Carbon in the whole pelagic ecosystem, we screened the literature to obtain an estimate of weight specific ingestion rates (WSIR) based on their averaged weight for adult calanoid (n=121) and cyclopoid copepods (n=41), in the field (n=125) and under laboratory conditions (n=37). By multiplying the estimated WSIR by the standing stock of adult copepods in the upper 100 m of the ocean -assuming that i) copepods are approximately 80% of the total zooplankton biomass ii) only 50% are adults and iii) calanoids comprise between 30 to 40% of total copepods (the rest being cyclopoid copepods) - our carbon budget estimates show that on a global scale, copepods process, between 3.41 - 3.70 up to 20.75 - 21.87 gigaton (Gt) C yr-1 through zooplankton predation based on field and laboratory measured WSIR, respectively. This conservative field estimate reveals that copepods are channeling 31.28 - 33.95% more carbon towards upper trophic levels than previous estimates focused on phytoplankton and microzooplankton consumption (10.9 Gt C yr-1). Hence, copepod intrigued predation should definitely be considered in oceanic biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem models.

The planktonic stage of Octopus vulgaris is the least studied part of their life cycle and is the... more The planktonic stage of Octopus vulgaris is the least studied part of their life cycle and is the bottleneck in making their aquaculture viable. All octopus paralarvae captured to date over the continental shelf (<200 m depth) were early stages with only three suckers per arm. Captive studies have shown that octopuses settle with around 23 suckers per arm. So, where are octopus paralarvae growing? What do they eat? Two surveys were carried out in the upwelling systems of NW Iberian Peninsula (CAIBEX-I) and Morocco (CAIBEX-III), where 99 and 35 octopus paralarvae were found respectively. A positive relationship was found between octopus size and distance to shore. Up to 74 octopuses were found over the continental slopes off the Iberian Peninsula (n=48, 3-6 suckers) and Morocco (n=26, 3-15 suckers) with bottom depths 780-3110 m. These facts reveal that planktonic O. vulgaris paralarvae have an oceanic strategy rather than the coastal-shelf strategy of other neritic species (loliginids and sepiolids). The ontogenic changes in the diet were studied using next generation sequencing by comparing 1) the paralarvae collected over the shelf (3 suckers) and open ocean (>3 suckers); 2) the paralarvae transported from the coast by upwelling filaments more than 200 km offshore. Contrasting differences were found between surveys and along the coastal-oceanic gradient mirroring the sharp change in zooplankton communities. This study features the intricacies of O. vulgaris planktonic stage opening new rearing possibilities for aquaculture and encouraging the need to reproduce these oceanic conditions in captivity.

The cephalopod paralarvae collected during the surveys CAIBEX-I (NW Iberian Peninsula, n=133) and... more The cephalopod paralarvae collected during the surveys CAIBEX-I (NW Iberian Peninsula, n=133) and CAIBEX-III (Morocco, n=244), were identified in collaboration with the Barcoding of Life Database (BOLD) within the project CEPAR: Cephalopod paralarvae of the Northeastern Atlantic. The project amassed COI data for 87.5% specimens (NW Iberian Peninsula n=110, Morocco n=220). The paralarvae collected off the NW Iberian Peninsula included 74 octopods (Octopus vulgaris), 16 loliginids (10 Alloteuthis subulata, 4 A. media and 2 Loligo vulgaris), 15 ommastrephids (12 Todaropsis eblanae, 2 Todarodes sagitattus and 1 Illex coindeti) and 5 sepiolids (Sepiola tridens). The cephalopod assemblage collected off Morocco was more diverse: 106 loliginids (98 Alloteuthis media and 8 A. subulata), 33 Octopus vulgaris, 9 sepiolids (5 Rondeletiola minor, 2 Heteroteuthis dispar, 1 Sepiola atlantica and 1 S. ligulata), 18 onychoteuthids (Ancistroteuthis lichtensteiniii), 11 pyroteuthids (Pyroteuthis margaritifera), 28 enoploteuthids (18 Brachioteuthis riisei, 8 Abraliopsis morisii and two undefined), three cranchiids (2 Liocranchia reinhardtii and 1 undetermined), and one undetermined ommastrephid. Surprisingly, 11 paralarvae showed 85% similarity with Ancistrocheirus lesueurii the only member of the ancistrocheiridae family. A detailed investigation of the BOLD database revealed three clades within this family: the new ancistrocheirid species found in this project, an undescribed species from South Africa and A. lesueurii. Genetic analyses revealed that all O. vulgaris collected belong to the same population, but they greatly differed from other “O. vulgaris” sequences from Japan, South Africa and Brazil suggesting the existence of cryptic species

Cephalopod paralarvae of Northeastern Atlantic (CEPAR): a barcoding project to uncover cephalopod diversity from plankton samples (PDF Download Available). Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290599114_Cephalopod_paralarvae_of_Northeastern_Atlantic_CEPAR_a_barcoding_project_to_uncover_cephalopod_diversity_from_plankton_samples [accessed Mar 18, 2016].

En este trabajo caracterizamos la variación espacio-temporal de las comunidades de mesozooplancto... more En este trabajo caracterizamos la variación espacio-temporal de las comunidades de mesozooplancton (0.2 a 20 mm longitud) del sistema de afloramiento costero de Cabo Silleiro (41-42ºN). Las muestras de mesozooplancton se recolectaron enfrente de las costas de Galicia y Portugal a bordo del buque “Sarmiento de Gamboa” durante la campaña CAIBEX-I en verano del 2009, utilizando una red bongo de 375 micras a tres profundidades diferentes (5, 100 y 500 m). Para poder determinar si las comunidades de zooplancton son transportadas por las masas de agua aflorada, llevamos a cabo dos experimentos de deriva de 4 días de duración, en los que, gracias a unas boyas equipadas con una vela de 100 metros de profundidad pudimos seguir al agua aflorada (experimento lagrangiano). Se recogieron muestras de zooplancton en torno a la boya tanto por el día como por la noche en dos situaciones oceanográficas distintas: a) fuera de la plataforma continental con una situación de relajación post-afloramiento debido al cese de los vientos del norte y, b) en la plataforma continental al inicio de un fuerte periodo de afloramiento debido a la reactivación de los vientos del norte. Entre 500 y 1.000 organismos se identificaron taxonómicamente de las 55 muestras recogidas. Los análisis multidimensionales revelaron la existencia de dos comunidades muy diferenciadas: una costera y otra oceánica. Un análisis exhaustivo reveló tres comunidades distintas en la costa y cinco en el océano. Se encontró un fuerte gradiente horizontal en la estructura de comunidades costeras determinado por la distancia a costa y la progresiva disminución de larvas de organismos costeros (meroplancton). Por el contrario, la estructura de las comunidades oceánicas estuvo determinada por un gradiente vertical determinado por la profundidad y los migradores verticales. Este estudio aporta valiosa información sobre cómo las comunidades de zooplancton cambian conforme el agua aflorada viaja sobre la plataforma y se aleja de la costa. Las comunidades costeras de zooplancton no son arrastradas por las corrientes superficiales afloradas sino que la mayoría de organismos evitan esta advección modificando su posición vertical, quedando retenidas cerca de la costa. Otros, como las larvas de pulpo, permanecen en estas corrientes superficiales y son transportadas mar adentro. Aquí desarrollan su etapa planctónica dentro de las comunidades oceánicas, evitando la comunidad superficial durante el día